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FEMALE WARRIORS.
FEMALE WARRIORS.
MEMORIALS OF
FEMALE VALOUR AND HEROISM, FROM
THE MYTHOLOGICAL AGES TO THE PRESENT ERA.
BY
ELLEN C.l CLAYTON
(MRS. NEEDHAM),
AUTHOR OF
QUEENS OF SONG," " ENGLISH FEMALE ARTISTS," Etc.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON :
TINSLEY BROTHERS, 8, CATHERINE STREET, STRAND.
1879.
\All Rights Hesetved."]
PRINTED BV TAYLOR AND CO.,
lO, LITTLB QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
THIS SHORT RECORD IS
2Detiicateti,
IN TOKEN OF AFFECTION AND ESTEEM,
TO
MADAME RONNIGER.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Page
Mythology — Warlike Goddesses — The Amazons — The
Sarmatians — The Machlyes and Auses — The
Zaveces — More Modern Tribes of Amazons in Asia
and Africa , . . i
CHAPTER II.
Semiramis, Queen of Assyria — Harpalyce, daughter of
Lycurgus, King of Thrace — Atalanta (Argonautic
Expedition^ — Camilla, Queen of the Volscians —
Tomyris, Queen of the Massagetae — Telesilla the
Poetess — The Two ArtemisiasCi. and ii.) Queens of
Caria — Mania, Governess of yEolia — Cratesipolis of
Sicyon—Arsinoe, Queen of Egypt .... 24
CHAPTER III.
Hypsicrates, Queen of Mithri dates the Great — Cleopatra
— Candace, Queen of Ethiopia — Boadicea and her
Daughters — Ancient British, Caledonian, and Ger-
man Female Warriors — Combats of Roman Ladies
— Nero's Amazons — Victoria, Empress of the West
Contents.
Page
— Zenobia, Queen of the East — Empress Hunila,
and other Gothic Amazons — Mavia, Queen of
Pharan — Pharandsem, Queen of Armenia. , . 47
CHAPTER IV.
THE ARABS.
Henda, Wife of Abu Sofian, an Arab Chief— Forka, an
Arabian Lady — Woman of Yemaumah — Arab and
Greek Heroines at the Siege of Damascus —
KhauUah — Prefect of Tripoli's Daughter — Ayesha,
Widow of the Prophet — Cahina the Sorceress,
Queen of the Berbers — Saidet, Queen of Persia —
Turkhan-Khatun, Sultana of Kharezme — Hadee'yah,
title of a Maiden who precedes the Bedouin Arabs
in battle at the present day 75
CHAPTER V.
Libyssa and Valasca, Queens of Bohemia — Wanda,
Queen of Poland — Moors in Spain — Women of
Tudmir — Female Knights of Tortosa — Alleged
Origin of the word "Infantry" — Queen Carcas —
Elfrida, Daughter of Alfred the Great — Igor,
Grand Duchess of Russia — Richilda, Countess
of Hainault 90
CHAPTER VI.
The Crusades — French, German, and Genoese Amazons
— Eleonora of Aquitaine — Matilda of Boulogne —
Empress Maud — Aldrude, Countess ofBertinoro —
\
Contents. xi
Page
Empress Constantia — Nichola deCamville (Barons'
Wars) — Blanche of Castille, Queen-Regent of France
— Women of Culm — Blanch de Rossi — Black Agnes,
Countess of March — Countess de Montfort — Julia du
Guesclin — Jane de Belleville, Lady of Clisson —
Marzia — Margaret, Queen of Denmark, Norway and
Sweden, the Semiramis of the North — Fair Maiden
Lilliard (Chevy Chase) — Lady Pelham — Philippa,
Queen of Denmark 102
CHAPTER Vn.
Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans. — Margaret de
Attendoli, Sister of Sforza — Bona Lombardi and
Onorata Rodiana, Female Condottieri — MaruUa
(Turks in Europe) — Margaret of Anjou — Jeanne
Hachette — Dona Aldonza de Castillo, and Dona
Maria Sarmiento (Civil Wars in Castile) — Isabel
the Catholic — Caterina Sforza ..... 134
CHAPTER VIII.
Maria d'Estrada, and other Spanish Women serving
under the command of Cortez — Catalina de Erauso,
the Monja Alferez (Nun-Lieutenant) — Dona Maria
Pacheco (Confederacy of the Holy Junta in Castile)
— Eleonora of Toledo, Grand Duchess of Tuscany —
Turks in Hungary — Courage of a Jewess at
Buda — Bravery of the Women of Temesvar, Erlau,
Valpon, Agria, and Szigeth in Hungary, and of
Famagosta in Cyprus — Louise Labe — Mary of
Hungary — Granu Weal— Female Warriors of
xii Contents.
Page
THE Reformation — Kenan Simonz Hasselaar —
Women of Alkmaar — Mary, Queen of Scots — Magda-
laine de Saint-Nectaire — Constance de Cezelli —
Christine de Lalaing, Princess d'Espinoy — Queen
Elizabeth — Enghsh and Scottish Heroines — Barbara
of Emecourt (Thirty Years' War) — Christina of
Sweden 164
CHAPTER IX.
THE AMAZONS IN SOUTH AMERICA . , . 198
CHAPTER X.
Lady Offaley (Irish Rebellion, 1641) — Lady Arundell
— Lady Bankes — Countess of Derby (Civil Wars
IN England) — Helena Zrinyi, Wife of Tekeli, the
Hungarian Patriot — Incident at the Coronation of
William and Mary — Lady Newcombe (James II. in
Ireland) — Madame de Vercheres — Mademoiselle
de la Charce 208
LIST OF THE
PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
Beloe's Herodotus.
Booth's Diodorus Siculus.
Heame's Justin.
Murphy's Tacitus.
Suetonius (Bohn's Classical Library).
Abbe Guyon. Histoire des Amazones. Paris, 1740.
RoUin. Histoire Ancienne.
Grote. History of Greece.
Gibbon. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Mills. History of Mohammedism.
Neale. Islamism : its Rise and Progress.
Miss Strickland. Queens of England and Scotland.
xiv Principal Authorities Cojisulted.
Mrs. Matthew Hall. Queens of England before the
Conquest.
Mrs. Forbes Bush. Queens of France.
Michaud. Histoire des Croisades.
Lingard. History of England.
Sir J. Mackintosh. History of England.
Tytler. History of Scotland ; and Worthies of Scotland.
Wolfgang Menzel. History of Germany (Mrs. Geo.
Horrocks).
Kelly. History of Russia.
Ooxe. House of Austria.
Motley. Rise of the Dutch Republic.
Berriat St Prix. Jeanne d'Arc. Paris, i8<7.
Lebrun des Charmettes. Hist, de Jeanne d'Arc. Paris,
1817.
JoUois. Hist. Abregee de li Vie et Exploits de Jeanne
d'Arc. Paris, 182 1.
Pre&cott. Conquest of Mexico.
Ralegh's Guiana. With Introduction and Notes, by Sir
Robert Schomburgh (Hackluyt Society).
Life of Mrs. Christian Davies, alias Mother Ross. Lon-
don, 1 74 1 (Defoe).
Lamartine. Hist of theGirondists. (Capt. Rafter)
Sir John Carr. Tour through Spain.
Maria Graham. Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, etc.
Principal Authorities Consulted. xv
Garibaldi. An Autobiography. Edited by Alexaadre
Dumas.
Scenes of the Civil War in Hungary, with the Personal
Adventures of an Austrian Officer. London, 1850.
Ferishta. History of Mahommedan India (Jo. Briggs).
1828.
Ferishta. History of the Dekkan, and History of Bengal
(J.Scott). 1794.
Gladwic. History of Hindostan.
Francklin. History of Shah Aulum, Emperor of Hin-
dostan.
Private Life of an Eastern King.
Nolan. Illustrated History of British India.
Bruce's Travels.
Winwood Reade SavageAfri ca. 1864.
Duncan. Travels in Dahomey. 1847.
Captain Burton. Mission to Dahome, 1864.
Matilda Betham. Cyclopaedia of Female Biography.
Mrs. EUet. Women Artists.
Fullom. History of Woman.
Mrs. Hale. Woman's Record.
Mrs. Starling. Noble Deeds of Woman.
Watson. Heroic Women of History. Philadelphia.
1852.
Wilson's Wonderful Characters. 1821.
xvi Principal Authorities Consulted,
Kirb/s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum. 1820.
Annual Eegister.
Notes and Queries.
Illustrated London News. Galignani.
Edinburgh Annual Register.
Biographie Universelle.
Ec. etc.
FEMALE WARRIORS.
I.
Mythology. — Warlike Goddesses. — The Amazons. — The
Sarmatians. — The Machlyes and Auses. — The Zaveces. —
More Modem Tribes of Amazons in Asia and Africa.
ilERE it not for fear of Mrs. Grundy
whose awful visage is to the modern
Briton what the Gorgon's head was to
the ancient Greeks it might be said that
Popular Prejudice is the deaf, deformed sister of
Justice. Popular Prejudice makes up her mind on
certain subjects, and is grandly unconscious of any
fault within herself ; ignorant that she is deaf, and
that she is morally blind, although able to see every
petty object that passes within her range. Popular
Prejudice, like her stately cousin, Mrs. Grundy,
arranges fixed rules of etiquette, of conduct, even
VOL. I. I
Female Warriors.
of feeling, and never pardons the slightest infringe-
ment of the lines she marks out. A man may lay
down his life for ** an idea/' but if it be outside the
ramparts of Popular Prejudice, he does so as a
rebel, maybe a fool. A man may have high aspira-
tions, but if by the breadth of a hair's line they run
not parallel with the views of Popular Prejudice,
let him be anathema maranatha, let him be bound
in chains, away with him to outer darkness, to the
company of the few who share his — " crotchets.^'
Whisper it not in Gath that a woman should dare
ever to transgress the lines laid down by Popular
Prejudice. A woman is a subordinate accident in
Creation, quite an afterthought, a supplementary
notion, a postscript, though Humour might laugh-
ingly say, much like the famous postscript to a lady's
letter. Man (though he is permitted to include in
his superb all-comprehensive identity, Woman) is
big, strong, noble, intellectual : a Being. Woman is
small, weak, seldom noble, and ought not to be
conscious of the significance of the word Intel-
lectual.
The exception is supposed to prove the rule. A
woman may be forgiven for defying Popular
Prejudice, if she is very pretty, very silly, and very
wicked. Popular Prejudice has the natural instinct
of yielding to any little weakness that may be
imagined to flatter a Man. But Popular Prejudice
Female Warriors.
is superbly angry with a woman wlio is perhaps not
pretty, yet ventures to claim good sense and personal
will, and who may be innately good. Popular Preju-
dice is the fast friend of lean-faced Envy ; and woe
betide the woman (or even the man) who would
presume to sit down at the board of these allies
uninvited.
Popular Prejudice, having decided that woman is a
poor, weak creature, credulous, easily influenced,
holds that she is of necessity timid ; that if she were
allowed as much as a voice in the government of her
native country, she would stand appalled if war were
even hinted at. If it be proved by hard facts that
woman is not a poor, weak creature, then she must
be reprimanded as being masculine. To brand a
woman as being masculine, is supposed to be quite
sufficient to drive her cowering back to her 'broidery-
frame and her lute.
Popular Prejudice abhors hard facts, and rarely
reads history. Yet nobody can deny that facts are
stubborn things, or that the world rolls calmly round
even when wars, rumours of wars, revolutions, and
counter-revolutions, are raging in every quarter and
sub-division of its surface.
War is, undoubtedly, a horrid alternative to the
average woman, and she shrinks from it — as the
average man shrinks. But, walking down the serried
ranks of history, we find strange records of feminine
1—2
Female Warriors.
bravery ; as we might discover singular instances of
masculine cowardice, if we searched far enough.
As argumentation is unpleasant and unprofitable,
be it counted only idle pastime gathering a handful
of memories from the playground of history.
Opinion among the ancients on all subjects was as
fairly divided as it has been among moderns. Natur-
ally, however, in that uncivilised stage of the world's
development, men and women inclined more towards
brute force than they now do. Plato, the Athenian
philosopher, lamented that the lives of women should
be wasted in domestic, and sometimes servile, duties ;
arguing that if the girls were trained like the boys,
in athletic sports and warlike exercises, and were
taught to endure fatigue, they would soon cease to be
the weaker sex, and could not only fight as well as
their lords and masters, but might take the com-
mand of armies and fleets.
But though the counsels of the great Athenian
were followed in many things, they were entirely de-
clined on this question. His countrymen, even in
cases of the direst necessity, were loth to swell their
ranks with female recruits ; and it was only during
the degenerate days of the Empire that Rome
publicly authorised the combats of women in the
amphitheatre.
Very few people deny that woman did, occasionally,
fight in olden times. All nations, from the rudest
Female Warriors.
barbarians to those most advanced in civilisation,
hold this belief. An old Chinese tradition says that
but for the wisdom of certain mandarins in days gone
by, the weaker sex might possibly be now the stronger
in the Celestial Empire. Once upon a time, so the
story runs, the Chinese women, discontented with
the unequal share accorded to them in the govern-
ment, rose in rebellion. The revolt so very nearly
became a revolution that the Emperor and his
ministers, to prevent a recurrence of the danger,
decreed that henceforth the feet of girls throughout
China should be bandaged in such a way as to put it
out of their power ever again to take the field as
warriors. And thus, says the fable, originated the
famous Golden Lilies.
The ancients were all familiar with the idea of women
sometimes exchanging the spindle and distaff for the
spear and shield. Not only did they believe their
goddesses to take part occasionally in the battles of
mortals, but the supreme direction of military affairs
was assigned to a female, as Goddess of War ; and
this deity, combining wisdom and courage, frequently
proved more than a match for the brutal if not
blundering God of Battles. " Which, indeed," observes
Pope, " is no more than just, since wisdom is gener-
ally averse to entering into warlike contests at all ;
yet when engaged, it is likely to triumph over brute
force, and to bear off the laurels of the day." No
Female Warriors.
general amongst the ancients would have dared to
enter an enemy's country, besiege a city, or risk an
engagement without first sacrificing to the Goddess
of War.
All nations alike held the same belief. The
Egyptians offered sacrifices to Neith, the Goddess
of War, Philosophy, and Wisdom, to whom lions
were subject, and whose fitting emblem was the
vulture. The Greeks and Romans adored Minerva,
the Thunderer's armour-clad daughter : and Bellona,
sister, or perhaps wife of Mars, whose chariot she was
said to drive through the din and tumult of the fight,
lashing the foaming horses with a bloody scourge.
And Victoria, whose name denotes her office, was so
greatly honoured both in Greece and Rome, that
Hiero, King of Syracuse, to flatter the Romans, once
sent them an idol figure of this goddess, three
hundred and twenty pounds in weight, made of solid
gold ; while the Egyptians, who worshipped her under
the name of Naphte, represented her in the form of
an eagle, because that bird is the strongest of aerial
warriors, and invariably victoriousover all thefeathered
race. The Brahmins, who claim an antiquity as
great as, or greater than, Egypt, worshipped, and still
worship, Durga, or Katyayini, whose ten arms and
hands, each of which grasps a warlike weapon or
emblem, prove how formidable a foe she is believed
to have been. Our ancient British forefathers prayed
Female Warriors.
to Andate, or Andraste, Goddess of Victory, and called
upon her in their hour of need. The northern races,
Goths, Vandals, Germans, who over-ran Europe
during the decline of the Roman Empire, assigned a
somewhat analogous place in their mythology to the
Valkyrias, or Disas —
" Those dread maids, whose hideous yell
Maddens the battle's bloody swell."
These beautiful women werebelievedtotakea lead-
ing part in every battle fought on earth. Mounted
on swift steeds, armed with helmets and mail, drawn
swords in their hands, they rode wildly over the
field to select those heroes destined by Odin for the
slaughter, and lead them to Valhalla, the Paradise
of the Brave.
Nor is the belief in warlike goddesses confined to
the Old World. When Cortez entered Mexico, he
found the subjects of Montezuma worshipping,
amongst other deities, all more or less repulsive to
the eye, a horrid basalt monster named Teoyamiqui,
Goddess of War. She was supposed to be wife of
the equally terrible Huitzilopochtli, or Tlacahuepan-
cuexcotzin, the Mexican Mars. Like the Valkyrias,
her chief duty was to conduct those warriors who
fell in defence of the gods to the house of the Sun, the
Elysium or Valhalla of the Mexicans, where she
transformed them into humming-birds.
8 Female Warriors,
The present age is a decidedly sceptical one.
It is the fashion nowadays to sneer at the tra-
ditions venerated by our grandfathers. Those -
chapters in the world's history which have not ^
been proved by /ads,' have passed, in the opinion of ''
many well educated people, into the category of
fable and nursery-rhyme. The early histories of
Greece and Rome, and of our own country too, are
now taken, if taken at all, cum grano salts. King
Arthur, Hengist and Horsa, and many another hero
of whom we were once so proud, have been cast, by
most matter-of-fact writers, on the same dusty
shelf with Achilles and Hector, Romulus and
Remus, side by side with Jupiter and Mercury, Jack
the Giant-Killer and Blue Beard. Scarcely any-
body in our days is so credulous as to believe that
the Amazons ever existed. "Amongst barbarous
nations," observes Gibbon, ** women have often
combated by the side of their husbands ; but it is
almost impossible that a society of Amazons could
have existed in the old or new world." His
opinion has been endorsed by most subsequent
writers, some of whom are even more positive in
their expressions of incredulity.
Ancient writers are divided on the question.
Strabo denies that there ever was or could have
been such a community, and adds, to believe in
their existence we must suppose ** in those days
Female Warriors.
the women were men and the men women."
Plutarch, more moderate, half believes they did
exist, but doubts most of their marvellous achieve-
ments, which, he thinks, *' clearly resemble fable
and fiction." Amongst those who speak for the
defence, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Justin, and
Quintus Curtius stand prominently forward.
Their origin, as related by Justin, though curious,
is far from being impossible or even improbable in
the remote days when they lived. Some years
previous to the reign of Ninus, king of Assyria, two
young princes of the Scythian blood-royal, Hylinos
and Scolopitos, being driven from their native
country by a faction of the nobility, induced several
hundred young men and women to emigrate with
them. After a toilsome march through barren
wilds they settled at last in Cappadocia, on the
rugged banks of the Thermodon. This little river,
which now bears the name of Termeh or Karmili,
falls into the Black Sea, between Trebisond and
Sinope.
For a number of years, the new-comers carried on
a species of border warfare with the natives of the
Themiscyrean plains — stealing their cattle, tearing
up their corn, destroying their homes by fire and
sword. At last the aborigines surprised and massacred
the male settlers, by means of an ambush. The
wives of the latter, having now no one to whom they
lO Female Warriors.
could look for protection, armed themselves and
expelled the foe from their territory.
From this time they laid aside all thoughts of
marriage, " calling it slavery and not matrimony."
And, to enforce this law, it is said, they murdered a
few men who had escaped the fury of the natives in
the general massacre. The Amazons were thence-
forth forbidden even to speak to men, save during
certain days in the year. At the appointed time,
throwing aside their military character, they visited
the surrounding nations, and were permitted, by
special treaties, to depart again unmolested.
Justin says they strangled all their male children
directly they were born ; Diodorus, that they dis-
torted their limbs; while Philastratus and others
affirm that they sent them back, uninjured, to the
fathers.
The girls were bred, like their mothers, " not in
idleness, nor spinning, but in exercises of war, such
as hunting and riding." In early childhood the
right breast was burnt off, that they might, when
grown up, be more easily able to bend the bow and
hurl the. dart. From whence, some say, they de-
rived the name of Amazon, which is formed of two
Greek words, signifying " wanting a breast."
Bryant, the antiquarian, rejects this theory, and
suggests, though with less probability, that the
name comes from Zon, the Sun, which was the
national object of worship.
Female Warriors. il
The bow was their favourite weapon, and from
constant practice they acquired such proficiency as
to equal, if not surpass the Scythians and Parthians,
who were the most skilful archers of ancient times.
With the Greeks and Romans it was not uncommon
to speak of a very superior bow or quiver as
" Amazonian."
The nation soon became formidable, and in due
time grew famous throughout the world. At one
time the dominion of the Amazons extended over the
entire of Asia Minor and Ionia, besides a great part
of Italy. So renowned did they at last become, that
Jobates, king of Lycia, commanded Bellerophon to
effect their subjugation, feeling certain that the hero
would never return ; great indeed was his astonish-
ment to see the redoubtable conqueror of the Chimera
return victorious, and he no longer hesitated to
confess the divine origin of the hero. It is said that
Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, was married to an
Amazon named Sphynx when he carried letters from
Egypt to Greece, about 1550 b.c,
Lampedo and Marpesia were the first Amazon
queens whose names became known beyond their
own dominions. To give greater eclat to their nu-
merous victories, they claimed to be daughters of the
God Mars — a common expedient in the olden times.
Taking it in turn to defend the frontier and invade
foreign countries, they speedily conquered Iberia
12 Female Warriors.
(Georgia), Colchis (Mingrelia), Albania, the Tauric
Chersonese (the Crimea), and a great part of Asia.
To commemorate the achievements of Queen Mar-
pesia during her passage over the craggy and snow-
capped Caucasus, when every peak, every ridge was
bravely defended by hordes of desperate mountaineers,
the name of Mount Marpesia was bestowed upon one
of the loftiest rocks.
It was Marpesia who founded Themiscyra, the
capital of the Amazons, on the banks of the Ther-
modon. She adorned this city with many stately
buildings, conspicuous amongst which was the royal
palace. Many cities in Asia Minor owed their origin
to the same queen — amongst others, Ephesus,
Thyatira, Smyrna, and Magnesia.
On the death of Marpesia, who was surrounded
by the barbarians during an expedition into Asia, and,
together with her entire army, put to the sword, Ori-
thya, Orseria,orSinope,andher sister Antiope,orHip-
polyte, ascended the throne. Orithya, the most
famous of all the Amazon queens, inherited the
beauty, together with the military skill of her mother,
Marpesia. Under her rule the nation became so
renowned, that Eurystheus, fancying he had at last
found a task beyond the powers of Hercules, com-
manded the hero, as his ninth labour, to bring him
the girdle of the Amazon queen. The hero succeeded,
however.
Female Warriors. 1 3
Hercules, accompanied by Theseus, Castor and
Pollux, and most of the young princes of Greece,
sailed to the Euxine with a fleet of nine ships, landed
at the mouth of the Thermodon, during the temporary
absence of Orithya with the best part of the army,
and gained an easy victory over Antiope, whose sister
Menalippe he made prisoner ; restoring her to liberty
in exchange for a suit of the royal armour, including,
of course, the girdle.
Historians differ as to the expedition of Theseus.
Some say he took away Hippolyte or Antiope, at the
same time that Hercules captured her sister ; others,
however, relate that he undertook a separate vogage
many years after that of Hercules, and carried An-
tiope to Greece, where he made her his queen. Plu-
tarch, in his life of Theseus, gives many details of
this latter expedition.
When Orithya heard of the invasion, and of the
part which the Athenian prince had acted in it, she
vowed not to rest till she was revenged. Calling her
subjects together, she soon found herself at the head
of many thousand warriors. At her entreaty, Sagillus,
king of Scythia, furnished a squadron of horse, com-
manded by his nephew, Panasagorus. Passing
through Colchis, over Mount Caucasus, and crossing
an arm of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, which, tradition
says, was frozen, the Amazons marched victoriously
through Taurica, Thrace, Thessaly, Macedonia,
14 Female Warriors.
Attica, and entered the city of Athens. A hard-
fought battle in the streets — described in detail by
old Plutarch — ended by the total rout of the Amazons,
who were compelled to take refuge in the camp of
the Scythians — the latter, in consequence of a quarrel,
having taken no part in the engagement.
. The fate of Orithya is unknown, and historians
differ as to that of Antiope. Some say she fell in
the battle by the hand of an Amazon, while fighting
in the Athenian ranks, side by side with Theseus ;
but according to others, it was her mediation which
brought about a treaty of peace some four months
later.
Theseus and the Amazon queen had a son named
Hippolytus, or Demophoon, who afterwards ascended
the throne of Athens.
That the Amazons survived this defeat is evident,
since, years afterthis, we find the Phrygians imploring
aid of Priam, king of Troy, against Myrene, queen
of the Amazons. Little is known about this war,
save that the queen lost her life, and was succeeded
by the beautiful Penthesilea, who not only made
peace with Priam, but led a chosen band of Amazons
to the assistance of Troy when it was besieged by
the Greeks. She arrived shortly after the death of
Hector, and, some declare, seemed, in the eyes of
the old king, destined to take the place of the de-
ceased hero. New life was infused into the dejected
Female Warriors. 15
Trojans. But, alas ! their joy was short-lived. The
morning after her arrival Penthesilea fell by the
haiid of the invincible Achilles, who, struck by her
exquisite beauty, repented too late of what he had
done. The sarcastic Thersites jeered and derided,
as usual, till the hero, in a fury, turned on the
sneering old wretch and slew him. Diomedes, en-
raged at the death of his mocking old comrade,
dragged the corpse of the Amazon queen from the
camp, and flung it into the Scamander.
Pliny ascribes the invention of the battle-axe to
this queen.
After the death of Penthesilea we learn nothing of
the Amazons until the days of Alexander the Great.
When that conqueror arrived at Zadracarta, the
capital of Hyrcania, about the year B.C. 330, he is
said to have been visited by an Amazon queen named
Minithya, or Thalestris, who — like another Queen of
Sheba — having heard of his mighty achievements,
travelled through many lands to see him, followed by
an army of female warriors. After staying thirteen
days she returned home, greatly disappointed with
the personal appearance of the Macedonian king,
who, contrary to her expectations, proved, 'tis said,
to be a little man.
This is the last we ever hear of the great female
nation. Some Roman authors affirm that the
Amazons, in alliance with the Albanians, fought
1 6 Female Warriors.
most valiantly in a battle against Pompey the
Great, B.C. 66. But the only ground for this
assertion consisted in the fact that some painted
shields and buskins were found on the battle-field.
If we may believe Herodotus, the Sauromatae,
or Sarmatians, in Scythia, were descended from
the Amazons. This historian relates how, after a
victory gained by the Greeks over the Amazons near
the Thermodon, the victors distributed their prisoners
into three ships, and set sail for Greece. Once
upon the open sea, the captives rose upon their
guards and put them to death. Being totally
ignorant of navigation and the management of sails,
oars, or rudder, they resigned themselves to the
mercy of winds and waves. They were carried to
the Palus Mseotis (the Sea of Azof), where the
liberated Amazons resumed their arms, sprang on
shore, and meeting a stud of horses, mounted them,
and commenced plundering the natives.
The people, ignorant alike of the dress, the
language, or the country of the invaders, supposed
them to be a body of young men. A sanguinary
battle, however, led to mutual explanations. The
Amazons consented to accept an equal number of
young Scythians as husbands ; but afraid that their
habits would never assimilate with those of the
mothers and sisters of their husbands, — for the
Scythian women, so far from going to battle, passed
Female Warriors. 17
their days in the wagons — resolved to seek out
some desert land where they would be free to follow
their own manners and customs. Crossing the
Tanais (the Don), they travelled six days' journey
east and north, and set up their homes in an un-
inhabited country. The nation increased greatly
in the course of two or three centuries, and, even
in the days of Herodotus, retained the habits of
their progenitors. The women pursued the chase
on horseback, sometimes with, sometimes without
their husbands, and, dressed like men, they fought
in battle.
No maiden was permitted to marry till she had
first killed an enemy ; ** it sometimes, therefore,
happens,'^ quaintly adds the historian, " that many
women die single at an advanced age.'^ Hippocrates
says they were condemned to single-blessedness till
they had slain at least three enemies.
Yet, in spite of this, there was only one Sarmatian
queen who became famous for her deeds on the battle-
field. This was Amagia, whose husband. King
Medosac, having given himself up to indolence and
luxury, permitted the affairs of the nation to fall
into disorder. At last Amagia took the reins of
government into her own hands, received ambas-
.sadors, took the command of the army, went in
person to reinforce the frontiers with troops, and
not only repelled several invasions but even made
VOL. I. 2
1 8 Female Warriors.
some incursions into foreign countries to assist such
of her allies as were in peril. Very soon she
became an important personage, and was more
than once chosen as mediatrix by the various petty
monarchs of the Chersonese.
As a ruler, Queen Amagia had not her equal in
those days throughout Scythia. Her judgments
were sound ; and both as a general and as a
governor, she was respected by all. Her justice
was severe and unbending, and untempered with
mercy.
The African Amazons, who are said to have
existed for some centuries prior to those of
Thermodon, were not, like the latter, a community
of women only, but the men were kept in close
subjection to their better-halves, by whom they were
treated as women are usually treated in barbarous
countries. While the women conducted the govern-
ment or fought with their neighbours, the men
staid at home, attending to the household duties.
They were not permitted, under any circumstances,
to serve as soldiers or hold any public office. The
girls were not allowed to marry till they had served ■
a certain number of years in the army ; and, like
the Asiatic Amazons, one breast was burnt off.
This nation, Diodorus tells us, originally dwelt on
a large island called Hesperia, on the western coast
Female Warriors. 19
of Africa. This isle, which, the historian says,
abounded " with all sorts of fruit trees,'* is supposed
to have been one of the Canaries. The climate was
then, as now, delicious, the soil more than ordinarily
fertile, and the natives possessed " many herds of
cattle and flocks of sheep and goats."
The Amazons, more warlike than their neighbours,
speedily conquered the entire island; and, crossing
into Africa, subdued great part of Numidia and
founded a large city named Chersonesus, in the
Tritonis Morass. This gigantic fen was situated
near the Atlantic Ocean, under the shadow of the
lofty Mount Atlas.
When Queen Merina ascended the throne, she
determined to accomplish mightier deeds than her
ancestors. Assembling an army of thirty thousand
foot and two thousand horse, dressed in coats of mail
made from the skins of large serpents, she passed
into Africa, conquered the Atlantides, the Gorgons,
and many another nation, and formed an alliance
with Orus, King of Egypt, the son of Isis. After
making war successfully on the Arabians she con-
quered Syria and Cilicia, and the tribes around Mount
Taurus, who, says Diodorus, "were both men of strong
bodies and stout hearts" ; marched through Phrygia,
and passed along the shores of the Mediterranean,
founding several cities, one of which she named after
herself, and the others after her principal captains.
2 — 2
20 Fetnale Warriors.
Crossing to the Greek Archipelago, where she con-
quered Lesbos and other isles, Merina founded the
city of Mitylene, and named it after her sister, who
accompanied the expedition.
Shortly after the return of the Amazons to Africa,
Mompsus, a refugee from the court of Lycurgus,
king of Thrace, and Sipylus, a banished Scythian,
invaded the dominions of Merina. The queen was
slain in the first battle, together with many thousand
Amazons ; and the rest of her subjects, after bravely
contending in several engagements with the invaders,
retired, it is said, into Lybia.
We also read that Egee, another queen of the African
Amazons, also raised a large army, with which she
invaded Asia. Being opposed by Laomedon, King
, of Troy (who was afterwards conquered by Hercules),
she defeated his troops in several actions, and took a
quantity of valuable plunder. While re-passing the
sea a storm arose, and Egee perished with her entire
army.
The nation was finally extirpated by Hercules
when he undertook his journey into Africa, and
erected the famous Pillars.
Herodotus mentions two Libyan tribes, the Mach-
lyes and Auses, dwelling on the shores of Lake
Tritonis, who trained their girls to the use of arms.
Once a year, at the festival of Minerva, their patron-
Female Warriors, 21
goddess, the maidens of each tribe formed them-
selves into two hostile armies, and attacked each
other before the temple with sticks and stones,
contending for the victory with the most desperate
valour. On the conclusion of this sham fight, the
most beautiful of the survivors was presented with a
magnificent suit of armour and a sword, and, amidst
the noisiest acclamations from the spectators, escorted
in a chariot triumphantly round the lake.
The Zaveces, another African tribe mentioned
by the same historian, employed their wives and
daughters to drive their war-chariots on the day of
battle, thus placing them in the front of the battle.
From what certain modern travellers have reported,
it would seem that even as lately as the eighteenth
century the legend of the Amazons still held its
ground in various parts of Asia and Africa. Father
Archangel Lamberti, a Neapolitan monk, who
travelled through Mingrelia in the seventeenth
century, was told that a warlike and ruthless nation,
amongst whom were several female warriors, dwelt
somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Caucasus.
They were often at war with the Calmuc Tartars and
the various tribes living near them. Lamberti was
even shown some suits of armour taken from the
corpses of these warlike women, together with their
bows and arrows and brass-spangled buskins.
22 Female Warriors.
The Chevalier Chardin (a Huguenot jeweller,
knighted by Charles II. of England), in travelling
through Persia, between 1663 and 1680, was told that
a powerful nation of Amazons dwelt to the north of
the kingdom of Caket. The monarchs of the latter
country, which was situated in the neighbourhood of
the Caucasus, subjected these Amazons for a time,
though they afterwards regained their liberty. The
people of the Caucasus, and the Calmucs were al-
ways at war with these Amazons, and never sought
to make peace or form any treaties, for they knew
the warlike women had neither religion, laws, nor
honour. Sir John, however, adds that he never met
with anybody who had been in their country.
Juan de los Sanctos, an early Portuguese traveller,
in speaking of a kingdom named Damut, in Ethiopia,
mentions a numerous tribe entirely composed of
women, who had adopted (or perhaps retained) the
habits of the ancient Amazons. The exercise of
arms and the pastime of the chase were their
principal occupations in times of peace, but their
chief business and pleasure was war. They burnt oflf
the right breast as soon as the girls were old enough
to bear it ; and, as a rule, they passed their lives in
a state of celibacy, the queen setting a rigid example.
Those who married did not rear their male children,
but sent them back to the fathers. The neighbour-
ing] sovereigns esteemed themselves only too fortunate
Female Warriors. 23
when they could secure the alliance of this people ;
and so far from seeking to destroy them, more than
once aided them when they were attacked by others.
This tribe was finally subjugated, says the Portuguese
friar, by the successors of Prester John, the kings of
Abyssinia.
II.
Semiramis, Queen of Assyria — Harpalyce, daughter of
Lycurgus, King of Thrace — Atalanta (Argonautic Expedition)
— Camilla, Queen of the Volscians — Tomyris, Queen of the
Massagetae — Telesilla the Poetess — The Two Artemisias (i.
and II.) Queens of Caria — Mania, Governess of yEolia — Crate-
sipolis of Sicyon — Arsinoe, Queen of Egypt.
fEMIRAMIS is the earliest female warrior of
whose existence there is any certainty.
But even her history is intermingled with
much of fable and idle tradition. The
exact period at which she reigned has never been
positively determined. The following dates, assigned
to her reign by various historians, ancient and
modem, as compared by the antiquarian Bryant,
show the diversity of opinion amongst chronologists
upon the subject.
Female Warriors. 25
B.C.
According to Syncellus, she lived . 2177
Petavius makes the time .... 2060
Helvicus 2248
Eusebius 1984
Mr. Jackson 1964
Archbishop Usher 1215
Philo Biblius Sanchoniathan (apud
Euseb.) 1200
Herodotus (about) 713
" What credit," indignantly asked the learned
Bryant, " can be given to the history of a person,
the time of w^hose life cannot be ascertained within
1535 years?"
The early life of this famous w^oman is enveloped
in one of those mythological legends in which the
ancients loved to shroud the origin of their heroes
and heroines. According to tradition she was the
natural daughter of Derceto, a Philistine goddess,
and while yet a babe, was left to perish by her cruel
mother in a wood near Ascalon, in Syria. But, as
Romulus and Remus were suckled by a wolf, so
doves came and fed the future queen. The birds
were observed and followed by the neighbouring
peasants ; and Simma, or Sisona, chief shepherd of
the Assyrian king, having no children of his own,
adopted the babe, and gave her the name of
26 Female Warriors.
Semiramis, a Syrian word signifying doves, or
pigeons.
At the'"early age of thirteen or fourteen, Semiramis
was married to Menon, one the principal officers of
the king, who saw her at the hut of Sisona while
inspecting the royal flocks. Captivated by her sur-
passing beauty and charming conversation, Menon
induced her to return with him to Nineveh, the
capital. For some months she was kept a close
prisoner in her husband's palace ; but her influence
soon ruled paramont, and all restraints were
removed. Two or three years passed thus, during
which time Semiramis bore her husband two sons,
Hypates and Hydaspes.
When Ninus invaded Media, Semiramis, who only
waited for some opportunity to distinguish herself,
insisted upon accompanying her husband, who, as
one of the principal courtiers, held an important
command in the invading army. The campaign was
at first an uninterrupted series of successes. One
city fell after another before the Assyrian hosts. But
the army was suddenly checked in its onward career
of victory before the impregnable walls of Bactria.
The city was defended with such obstinate bravery
that Ninus at last resolved to retreat. But Semira-
mis presented herself before the assembled council of
war, proposed an assault on the citadel, and offered
to lead, in person, the storming party.
Female Warriors. 27
When the decisive moment arrived, Semiramis
proved herself fully equal to the emergency. Amidst
vollies of arrows and showers of stones, before which
the bravest men turned pale, she led the forlorn hope
to the foot of the citadel. Animating all by her
courage, shaming cowards by the thought that a
young and lovely woman was sharing, nay, braving,
the same dangers as themselves, the intrepid heroine
rushed up the scaling ladder, and was the first to
reach the battlements. A struggle ensued, short,
but fierce, and in a few moments the golden standard
of Assyria floated from the walls. The capital of
Media had fallen.
The king, violently smitten with love for the brave
girl, earnestly besought her husband to give her up.
He even offered his own royal sister, Sosana, in ex-
change. But promises and threats were alike vain ;
and Ninus, in a fury, cast Menon into prison. Here,
after being deprived of sight, the wretched husband
terminated his existence with his own hands.
Ninus married the young widow ; and after their
return to Nineveh, she bore him a son called Ninyas.
'Tis said Ninus paid very dear for his marriage.
Semiramis, by her profuse liberality, soon attached
the leading courtiers to her interest. She then
solicited the king, with great importunity, to place
the supreme power in her hands for five days. Ninus
at last yielded to her entreaties ; and, as his reward,
28 Female Warriors,
was cast into prison, and put to death, — either
immediately, or after languishing some years.
To cover the meanness of her origin, and to
immortalise her name, Semiramis now applied her
mind to great enterprises. If she did not, as some
suppose, found Babylon the Great, she adorned it
with beautiful and imposing edifices, and made it
worthy to be called " the Golden City.'^
Not satisfied with the vast empire left by Ninus,
she enlarged it by successive conquests. Great part'
of Ethiopia succumbed to her power ; and during
her stay in this country she consulted the Oracle of
Jupiter-Ammon as to how long she had to live.
The answer was, that she should not die until con-
spired against by her son ; and that, after her death,
part of Asia would pay her divine honours.
Her last and most famous expedition was the war
with India. For this campaign she raised an army
of more than ordinary dimensions. Ctesias puts
down the number at three million foot, fifty thousand
horse, and war-chariots in proportion ; but this is, no
doubt, a slight exaggeration. The chief strength of the.
Indians lay in their countless myriads of elephants.
Semiramis, unable to procure these animals in
sufficient numbers, caused several thousand camels
to be accoutijed like elephants.
Shahbrohates, King of India, on receiving intelli-
gence of her hostile approach, sent ambassadors to
Female Warriors. 29
inquire her motive for invading his dominions. She
returned a haughty answer ; and, on reaching the
Indus, she erected a bridge of boats and attempted
to cross. The passage was disputed, and although
the Indians at last retreated, the victory was more
disastrous to the Assyrians than many a defeat.
But Semiramis, carried away by the blind infatua-
tion which guided all her movements in this war,
marched into the heart of the country. The king,
who fled deceitfully to bring about a second engage-
ment further from the river, faced about, and the two
armies again closed in deadly combat. The counterfeit
elephants could not long sustain the attack of the
genuine animals, who, crushing every obstacle under
foot, soon scattered the Assyrian army. Semiramis
performed prodigies of bravery to rally her broken
forces, and fought with as little regard for her own
safety as though she had been the meanest soldier
in the army. Shahbrohates, perceiving the queen
engaged in the thick of the fight, rode forward and
twice wounded her. The rout soon became general,
and the royal heroine, convinced at last that nothing
further could be done, gave the rein to her horse,
whose swiftness soon placed her beyond the reach of
the enemy.
On reaching the Indus a scene of the most terrible
disorder ensued. In the wild terror which possessed
the minds of all, officers and soldiers crowded together
30 Female Warriors.
on to the bridge, without the slightest regard for rank
or discipline. Thousands were trampled under foot,
crushed to death, or flung into the river. When
Semiramis and all who could save themselves had
crossed over, the bridge was destroyed. The Indian
king, in obedience to an oracle, ordered his troops not
to cross the river in pursuit.
Semiramis was the only sovereign amongst the
ancients, except Alexander the Great, who ever
carried a war beyond the Indus.
Some time after her return to Babylon, the queen
discovered that her son, Ninyas, was conspiring
against her. Remembering now the oracle of
Jupiter-Ammon, and believing that her last days
were approaching, Semiramis voluntarily abdicated
the throne. Some chroniclers give a different version
of the story, relating that the queen was slain by
her son, and this latter account, though disbelieved
by most historians, is the popular story.
Semiramis lived sixty-two years, out of which she
reigned forty-two. It is said the Athenians after-
wards worshipped her under the form of a dove.
The early lives of Harpalyce and Atalanta, the first
known female warriors who were natives of Greece,
resemble in some respects that of Semiramis. It
appears to have been a favourite custom, during the
primitive ages, to have children nursed by birds or
Female Warriors. 31
beasts. Harpalyce, daughter of Harpalycus, or
Lycurgus, king of the Amymnseans, in Thrace,
having lost her mother during infancy, was fed with
the milk of cows and horses. Her father trained her
in every manly and warlike exercise, riding, racing,
hurling the dart, using the bow and arrow. By-
and-by she became a mighty huntress ; and soon the
opportunity came for her to prove herself a brave
soldier and a skilful commander. The Getes, or
Myrmidones of Thessaly invaded the dominions of
King Lycurgus, defeated his best troops and made him
prisoner. Directly Harpalyce learned this news she
hastily called together an army, placed herself at its
head, and falling on the foe, put them to flight and
rescued her father.
Lycurgus endeavoured to cure the Thracians of
their drunken habits, and caused all the vines in his
dominions to be rooted up, whereby he brought
about a general insurrection, and was compelled to
fly for safety to the isle of Naxos, where he went
mad and committed suicide. Harpalyce turned
brigand and haunted the forests of Thrace. She was
so swift of foot that the fleetest horses could not
overtake her once she began running. At last,
however, she fell into a snare set by some shepherds,
who put the royal bandit to death.
Atalanta, too, was likewise bereft of a mother's care.
Her father, Jasus or Jasion, unwilling to rear the
32 Female Warriors.
babe, yet not sufficiently inhuman to see her slaugh-
tered before his eyes, left her to her fate on
Mount Parthenius, the highest mountain in Pelo-
ponnesus. Close by was the cave of an old she-bear
who had been robbed of her cubs. In place of
devouring the babe, the savage brute adopted it, and
brought up the girl as her own daughter. Orson-
like, the girl learned many of the habits of her
shaggy nurse. But, she also, through constant
exercise, acquired marvellous dexterity in using the
bow and arrow; and with this weapon she once
slew the Centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaeus.
Atalanta was one of those brave warriors who
sailed in the Argonautic expedition, B.C. 1263; and
throughout the voyage she earned the praises of her
comrades by her bravery and military skill. After
her return to Greece she assisted in the chase of the
Calydonian boar, a savage brute of monster size
who was ravaging iEtolia. She was the first to
wound this beast ; hence Meleager awarded her
the first prize. His uncles, jealous of the honour
thus conferred upon a woman, endeavoured to wrest
the trophies from her, and in the scuffle which ensued,
Meleager unfortunately slew both his uncles.
This heroine must not be confounded with another
Atalanta, daughter of Schcenus, King of Scyrus,
famous for her marvellous skill in running, and for
the stratagem of the three golden apples by which
she was at last defeated.
Female Warriors. 33
It would seem that no Grecian or Trojan heroines
distinguished themselves during the siege of Troy ;
though it is not unlikely that many of the Greek
soldiers were secretly accompanied by their wives.
When ^neas landed in Italy, a few years after the
fall of Troy, he found, amongst the sovereigns con-
federated against him, Camilla, the Amazon queen
of the Volscians, renowned for her high courage, her
beauty, and her swiftness in running. Virgil says
that she outstripped the winds in speed, and could
have skimmed over the topmost stalks of standing
corn, or along the surface of the ocean, without
leaving a trace of her footsteps.
From childhood she was dedicated by her father.
King Metabus, to the service of Diana, and trained
in martial exercises. She grew so fond of the chase,
that even after the death of her father, she preferred
leading the semi-barbarous life of a wild huntress
to the prospect of domestic happiness as the wife
of a Tuscan noble.
She joined Turnus, King of the Rutulians, with
a squadron of horse and a body of foot, equipped in
bronze armour. Followed by her retinue of warlike
maidens, she bore a prominent part in a battle
fought near the walls of Latium. But after spread-
ing death and terror on every side, she was herself
slain by a Tuscan chief.
VOL. I. 3
34 Female Warriors.
Virgil's description of her death is one of the
most beautiful passages in the ^neid.
Cyrus, one of the greatest conquerors the world
has ever seen, some say met his first and last defeat
a the hands of a female general. Many historians
describe him as dying peaceably in his bed, sur-
rounded by his family ; but others relate that, still
thirsting for fresh conquests, he cast his eyes, in an
unlucky moment, on the land of the Massagetae, a
warlike people governed by Queen Tomyris, a widow,
and a woman possessing both courage and energy.
Her country extended beyond the broad stream of
the Araxes, to the Caucasus. The Massagetse were
a savage, hardy race, resembling the Scythians in
their mode of like. Agriculture was neglected, and
they subsisted entirely upon their cattle and the fish
supplied by the Araxes. Though they had nothing
to lose by a change, this nation was devotedly
attached to its freedom ; suffering death rather than
the loss of liberty, and resolutely opposing every
invader.
It was against this indomitable race that Cyrus
marched, at the head of two hundred thousand men,
B.C. 529. By means of a stratagem he was at first
successful. Knowing the Massagetae to be ignorant
of Persian delicacies and the flavour of wine, he spread
out a banquet, accompanied with flowing goblets of
Female Warriors. 35
wine; and,leaving a few hundreds of his worst soldiers
to guard the camp, retired to some distance. When
the Massagetae, commanded by Spargapises, nephew
of Tomyris, had taken the camp, they feasted and
drank, till, overcome by drunkenness and sleep, they
afforded an easy victory to Cyrus. The greater
number, including Spargapises, were made prisoners,
or slain.
However, so far from despairing, Tomyris collected
the rest of her forces, and having led the Persians
into a narrow pass, attacked them with such fury
that they were all slain, together with the king.
Justin says "there was not one man left to carry
the news home ; '' but as the news did somehow find
its way home, that fact is doubtful.
The body of Cyrus was discovered after consider-
able search. Tomyris ordered the head to be cut off
and flung into a vessel full of human blood.
" Satisfy thyself now with blood,'' cried she, ex-
ulting over her dead foe, " which thou didst always
thirst after, yet could never satisfy thy appetite.^'
A few years prior to the invasion of Greece by
Xerxes, Cleomenes, King of Lacedsemon, who arro-
gated to his state the first rank in Greece, went to
war with the people of Argos. Having learned from
an oracle that he would be victorious, the Spartan
king without loss of time invaded the Argeian
3—2
36 Female Warriors.
territories, and routed the enemy in a sanguinary
battle at Sepeia. Those Argives who escaped death
on the battle-field took refuge in a grove sacred to
Argus, their hero; where, however, they were sur-
rounded and burnt alive by the enemy. Upwards of
six thousand, the flower and strength of Argos,
perished that day. Cleomenes marched direct to the
city, which, decimated, almost depopulated though
it was, made a gallant defence.
There dwelt in the city a beautiful girl named
Telesilla, famous throughout the land as a lyric
poetess. Inspired by patriotism, she addressed the
Argive women and incited them to defend their
homes. The call was responded to with enthusiasm.
Armed with weapons from the temples, or from
private dwellings, the women of Argos, headed by
Telesilla, ascended the walls, and compensated by
their courage for the dearth of male warriors.
The Spartans were repulsed; and Cleomenes,
afraid of being reproached, even if successful, with
fighting against helpless women and timid girls,
commanded a retreat.
Demeratus, Cleomenes' partner in the throne, is
said by some historians to have accompanied this
expedition ; and they relate that whilst Cleomenes
was besieging the walls, Demeratus attacked the
Pamphyliacum, or Citadel, whence he was driven
with great loss by Telesilla and her companions.
Female Warriors. 37
This, however, is acknowledged to be mere tradition,
for Herodotus says that the two kings, having
quarrelled some years previously, never engaged to-
gether in the same war.
Grote, for an even better reason, disbelieves the
entire story, which, he says, ** is probably a myth,
generated by the desire to embody in detail the
dictum of the oracle a little before, about * the
female conquering the male.' " Without for a moment
denying that the Argeian women could or would
have achieved the great deeds ascribed to them, he
doubts their having done so, because, says he, the
siege never took place at all.
Great honours, so runs the legend, were paid to
Telpsilla and her brave companions, many of whom
fell in the conflict. A statue of the poetess was
erected by the grateful citizens and placed in the
Temple of Venus.
The terrible danger of the Persian invasion caused
all the internal wranglings and disputes of the
Greeks to be hushed for a time. In the year B.C.
480, the Great King declared war on the (tempo-
rarily) united states of Greece, and sailed thither
with a gigantic and overwhelming army and navy.
Amongst the tributary sovereigns who followed him
in this expedition was Artemisia, Queen of Caria.
She was daughter of King Lygdamis, and her hus-
38 Female Warriors.
band, the late king, having died while her son was
a minor, Artemisia conducted, ^ro. tern., the govern-
ment of Halicarnassus, Cos, Nisiras, and Calydne.
Though she brought only five ships to the Greek
war, they were almost the lightest and best equipped
of any in the fleet.
Herodotus says that amongst all the Persian
commanders, naval or military, there was not one
who gave the king such good advice as this heroine ;
but King Xerxes was not at that time wise enough
to profit by her counsels. She was the only one
who had the courage to raise her voice against the
proposed sea-fight at Salamis, which Xerxes was
resolved to risk.
As the Carian queen foretold, the Persians were
defeated. Yet, though she openly disapproved of
the battle, Artemisia behaved most gallantly through-
out. The Athenians, indignant that a woman should
dare to appear in arms against them, offered ten
thousand drachmas for her capture, alive or dead.
The way she escaped displayed great presence of
mind, though it also showed how unscrupulous she
was in the choice of stratagems. Closely pursued
by an Athenian ship (commanded by Aminias of
Pallene, the brother of ^Eschylus), escape seemed
impossible. But with her customary decision of
mind, the queen hung out Grecian colours, and
turned her arms against a Persian vessel. This cost
Female Warriors. 39
her no feelings of regret, for on board the ship was
Damasithymus, King of Calynda, with whom she
had some private quarrel. Her pursuers, seeing her
send a Persian ship to the bottom of the sea, con-
cluded that she belonged to their navy, and so gave
up the pursuit.
Xerxes, from an elevated post on shore, saw the
disgraceful flight of his own navy, together with the
bravery of Artemisia. "When he could no longer
doubt that it was she who performed such gallant
deeds, he exclaimed, in astonishment, that the men
had behaved like women, while the women had dis-
played the courage of men.
Like most warlike leaders, Artemisia was not at
all scrupulous as to the means employed, provided the
end answered her expectations. Wishing to possess
herself of Latmus, a small city which lay temptingly
near to Halicarnassus, she placed her troops in
ambush, and under pretence of celebrating the feast
of Cybele in a wood consecrated to that goddess, she
repaired thither with a grand procession, accompanied
by drums and trumpets. The people of Latmus ran
out in crowds to witness the show, while Artemisia's
troops took possession of the city.
The ultimate fate of Artemisia proves how true it
is that " love rules the court, the camp, the grove."
She fell violently in love with a native of Abydos, a
young man named Dardanus ; but her passion was
4© Female Warriors.
not reciprocated. To punish his disdain, she first
put out his eyes, and then took the noted ** Lover's
Leap " from the promontory Leucas — now Santa
Maura.
Artemisia IL, who lived more then one hundred
and thirty years after the former heroine, has fre-
quently been confounded with her, as both were
queens of Caria. The second of that name was
daughter of King Hecatomus, and is principally
famous for the honours which she paid to the
memory of her husband, Mausolus, to whom she
erected a magnificent tomb at Halicarnassus, which
monument was afterwards reckoned as one of the
Seven Wonders of the World.
Most writers represent Artemisia as plunged in
tears during her widowhood; but there are some
who, on the contrary, declare that she made some
important conquests at that time. Vitruvius relates
that the Rhodians, indignant that a woman should
reign over Caria, despatched a fleet to Halicarnassus
to dethrone Artemisia. The queen commanded the
citizens to appear on the walls directly the Rhodians
came in sight, and to express, by shouts and clapping
of hands, their readiness to surrender. The enemy,
falling into the trap, disembarked, and went with all
haste to the city, leaving their ships without even
one man to guard them
Female Warriors. 41
Artemisia came out with her squadron from the
little port, entered the great harbour, and seized the
Rhodian vessels. Putting her own men on board
she sailed to Rhodes, where the people, seeing their
own ships return adorned with laurel-wreaths, re-
ceived them with every demonstration of joy. No
resistance was offered to the landing ; and Artemisia
seized the city, putting to death the leaders of the
people.
She caused a trophy to be erected, and set up
two statues — one representing the city of Rhodes,
and the other an image of herself, branding the
former figure with a red-hot iron. Vitruvius says
the Rhodians were forbidden by their religion to
destroy this memorial ; so they surrounded it by a
lofty building which concealed it from view.
Her death, which took place the same year (b.c.
351) probably reinstated the Rhodians in their
liberty.
During the reign of Artaxerxes Nmenon, King of
Persia, and brother of Cyrus the younger, the
province of ^olia was governed — under the
authority of Pharnabasus, satrap of Asia Minor —
by Zenis the Dardanian. When the latter died.
Mania, his widow, went to Pharnabasus with
magnificent presents, leading a body of troops, and
begged of him not to deprive her of the government.
Pharnabasus allowed her to retain the province.
42 Female Warriors.
and he had no reason to regret it. Mania acquitted
herself with all the prudence and energy which could
have been expected from the most experienced ruler.
In addition to the customary tributes, she added
magnificent presents ; and when Pharnabasus
visited her province, she entertained him with
greater splendour than any of the other governors
throughout Asia Minor. She followed him in all his
military campaigns, and was of great assistance
not only with her troops, but by her advice. She
was a regular attendant at all his councils, and her
suggestions contributed to the success of more than
one enterprise. The satrap knew how to estimate
her merit ; and the Governess of iEolia was treated
with greater distinction than any of her fellow-
governors.
Her army was in better condition than that of
any neighbouring province ; she even maintained a
body of Greek soldiers in her pay. Not content with
the cities committed to her care, she made new
conquests ; amongst others, Larissa, Amaxita, and
Colona, which belonged to the Mysians and Pisidians.
In every war she took the command in person,
and from her war-chariot decreed rewards and
punishments.
The only enemies she possessed were in her own
family circle. Midias, her son-in-law, thinking it
a reproach on him that a woman should command
Female Warriors. 43
where he was subordinate, strangled her and her son,
B.C. 399, and seized two fortresses in which she had
secured her treasures. The other cities of ^Eolia at
once declared against him ; and he did not very long
enjoy the fruits of his crime. Dercylljdas, com-
mander of the Greek forces in Asia, arrived at this
juncture. All the fortresses in the province
surrendered, either voluntarily or by compulsion j
and Midias was deprived of the possessions for
which he had stained his hands in the blood of his
relatives.
Cratesipolis was the wife of Alexander, the son of
one of Alexander the Great's captains.
On the sudden death of Alexander the Great, his
posthumous son and his half-brother were placed on
the throne, under the regency of Perdiccas, the most
talented of Alexander's captains. However, the
generals soon began to quarrel among themselves ;
two years later, Perdiccas was assassinated, and
the regency conferred on Antipater, governor of
Macedonia and Greece. The latter, on his death-
bed, bestowed the office of regent and the govern-
ment of the provinces on Polysperchon, the eldest
survivor of all the captains who had followed
Alexander to India. Cassander, the son of Antipater,
indignant at being set aside, went to war with the
new regent.
44 Female Warriors.
Alexander, the son of Polysperchon, was possessed
of great military talent, and his father confided to
him the defence of Peloponnesus. Cassander,
knowing the abilities of Alexander, offered him the
government of Peloponnesus, and the command of
the troops stationed there if he would join the
faction of the malcontents. The offer was accepted ;
Alexander established his head quarters at Sicyon.
At the head of his troops he gained several victories.
Cratesipolis, his wife, was the idol of the soldiers.
They regarded her, and justly, as a woman who
possessed the spirit of a hero and the talents of a
great general. She interested herself in all their affairs
— appeased all their differences, and did not disdain
to think of their wants and their pleasures. She con-
soled those who were sad, relieved those who were
in want, and strove to make all happy. Frequently
she accompanied Alexander in his expeditions, and
was as much respected by the officers as beloved
by the privates.
Alexander held his governorship for only a few
months. The citizens of Sicyon, furious, and
groaning under the yoke imposed upon them, con-
spired against their rulers. The governor was slain
by Alexion and some companions who pretended to
be Alexander's friends. The soldiers, who were
setting out on an expedition, seized with terror when
they saw their leader fall, fled in all directions.
Female Warriors. 45
Cratesipolis gave way neither to grief nor despair.
Rallying the broken forces, she assumed the com-
mand, and soon restored order and discipline. The
Sicyonians, who never suspected that a woman could
take the command of the army, rose in rebellion,
and barred the city gates. Cratesipolis, enraged as
much at the insult as at the treachery with which
they had slain her husband, laid siege to Sicyon,
routed the insurgents in a hotly-contested battle,
and took the city by storm (b.c. 317), when, by her
command, thirty of the ringleaders were crucified.
Having assuaged her thirst for revenge, Cratesi-
polis entered Sicyon in triumph, and assumed the
government. Appeasing all the troubles caused by
the rebellion, she ruled with such wisdom and
prudence as to excite the admiration of all. To
the last she kept up a large and well-disciplined
army, always ready at a moment^s notice to set
forth on an expedition. The soldiers, whose love
and reverence had been increased by the courage
with which she had acted during the insurrection,
would, any of them, have gladly sacrificed his own
life to save hers.
Arsinoe, Queen of Egypt, was the wife of Ptolemy
Philopater. She was a brave as well as prudent
woman, and accompanied her husband when he
invaded Syria, b.c. 217. In the battle of Raphia
46 Female Warriors.
she rode up and down through the ranks, exhorting
the soldiers to behave manfully during the fight.
She remained beside her husband during the heat
of the action ; and by her presence she greatly
contributed to the victory gained by the Egyptians.
ni.
Hypsicrates, Queen of Mithridates the Great — Cleopatra —
Candace, Queen of Ethiopia — Boadicea and her Daughters —
Ancient British, Caledonian, and German Female Warriors —
Combats of Roman Ladies — Nero's Amazons — Victoria,
Empress of the West — Zenobia, Queen of the East — Empress
Hunila, and other Gothic Amazons — Mavia, Queen of Pharan —
Pharandsem, Queen of Armenia.
ONTUS, in Cappadocia, the ci-devant home
of the Amazons, passed through many
changes and vicissitudes as time rolled
on. Under Cyrus and his successors,
Cappadocia was divided into two distinct provinces,
whose governors made themselves finally independent
of Persia, and ruled as kings till the days of Alex-
ander. After the death of the great Macedonian,
Pontus was not long regaining its independence :
48 Female Warriors.
increasing rapidly in power and extent till the days
ofMithridates the Great, who made it one of the chief
empires of the East.
This ambitious monarch, believing himself a second
Alexander, cared for nothing but war ; and through
his bravery and his obstinacy, he contrived to make
himself one of the most formidable rivals Rome ever
had to cope with. Hypsicrates was his favourite
wife — like most Oriental monarchs, he had more
than one ; and in respect of personal courage, she
was worthy to be the companion of the royal tiger.
They were romantically attached to one another;
Mithridates, ruthless towards others, was loving and
tender to his favourite sultana. She accompanied
him in many of his perilous expeditions, and fought
by his side in more than one battle. For this reason,
her name, properly Hypsicratia, was changed to
Hypsicrates ; thus altering it from feminine to mas-
culine, on account of her manly courage. Besides
being valiant, she was exceedingly beautiful and
highly accomplished, as a queen should be.
After the defeat of Mithridates by Lucullus, the
gourmand, on the plains of Cabirae, B.C. 71, the un-
fortunate monarch sent a messenger to the ladies of his
court, enjoining them to die by their own hands rather
than fall alive into those of the Romans. All obeyed
save Hypsicrates. Though she feared death as
little as any among them, yet could she not bear
Female Warriors. 49
even this temporary separation from her lord.
Mounting a swift steed, she overtook the king, after
encountering and surmounting innumerable difficul-
ties ; and by her presence and counsel she re-
stored to him his former energy and strength of
mind.
Five years later (b.c. 66), Mithridates fought a
battle with Pompey the Great on the banks of the
Euphrates. Hypsicrates appeared in the dress of a
Persian soldier, and, mounted on a charger, fought
beside the king so long as the action lasted. How-
ever, the battle was not of long duration. The bar-
barians were afraid to await the shock of the iron
legions, and fled in wild terror. The Romans ruth-
lessly slaughtered the fugitives ; ten thousand were
slain on the field, and the camp fell into the hands of
the victors.
Mithridates and his brave queen, placing them-
selves at the head of eight hundred chosen horsemen,
cut their way, sword in hand, through the ranks of
the foe. But the eight hundred quickly dispersed,
and left the king with only three followers, one of
whom was Hypsicrates. She attended him during
his flight, grooming his horse, and enduring great
hardships through fatigue and want of food. At last
they reached a fortress, where lay the royal treasures.
Here Mithridates gave to each a dose of strong
poison to be taken in case of dire necessity. But
VOL. I. 4
50 Female Warriors.
whether Hypsicrates finally swallowed the fatal potion,
or by what death she passed from the world, his-
torians have not told us.
Cleopatra, the beautiful and ambitious queen of
Egypt, was at all times desirous to acquire renown
as a great warrior. But she possessed neither the
courage nor the prudence necessary for those who
seek the laurel-wreath. She was too fond of her
ease to take the command of an expedition, unless
the occasion was one which rendered her presence
absolutely necessary.
She first appeared as a warrior in the year B.C. 48,
when her brother Ptolemy deprived her of her share
in the throne. She withdrew to Syria, raised troops
there, and re-entered Egypt at the head of her forces
shortly after the battle of Pharsalia. Pompey, routed
by Caesar, fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated
by order of the king. Scarcely had he breathed his
last, when Caesar landed. He assumed the right to
arbitrate between Ptolemy and Cleopatra. The former
refused to accept him as referee, and for several weeks
the great Caesar had to contend with the soldiers of
the king as well as with the infuriated citizens of
Alexandria. However, the war was soon terminated
by the defeat and death of Ptolemy ; and the crown '
was bestowed upon Cleopatra.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra
Female Warriors. 51
declared for the Triumvirs, Antony, Octavius, and
Lepidus. She prepared a powerful fleet, designing to
take the command, and sail to the assistance of
Caesar's avengers. Violent storms prevented the
squadron from setting out ; but some time subse-
quently the queen sailed with a well-equipped fleet
to join the Triumvirs. Again she was frustrated by
the elements. A terrible storm arose, wrecked many
vessels, threw the queen on a bed of sickness, and
compelled the fleet to put back to Alexandria.
This love of warlike display finally caused her
ruin and that of Antony. Against the advice of the
most practised Roman officers, she insisted upon
taking an active part in the war against Octavius.
Before the decisive battle of Actium, Antony was
counselled not to hazard a sea-fight ; but the haughty
Egyptian queen, like Xerxes of old, insisted upon it.
So her advice was followed in preference to that of
old and experienced generals.
The battle was fought on the 2nd September,
B.C. 31, at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf, within
sight of the opposing land armies who were encamped
on each shore anxiously watching the struggle. A
more magnificent sight could not have been seen
than the fleet of Antony ; and the most splendid
object in it was the galley of Cleopatra, blazing with
gilding and bright colours, its sails of purple, flags
and streamers floating in the wind. Victory inclined
4—2
52 Female Warriors,
to neither side till the flight of the Egyptian queen.
Terrified by the horrid din of the fight, though in no
personal danger, she fled from the scene of action,
her example being followed by nearly all the Egyptian
fleet, which numbered sixty ships. Antony, when he
saw the queen^s galley take to flight, forgot every-
thing but her, and precipitately followed. And thus
he yielded to Caesar not merely the victory, but the
■Sovereignty of the World.
About the time that Cleopatra sat on the throne
of Egypt, the neighbouring kingdom of Ethiopia was
ruled over by another warlike queen, Candace, whose
kingdom comprised that part of the Nile valley,
which, under the name of Meroe, contained number-
less towns and cities in a high state of civilization.
Very little is known concerning this queen, save
what we glean from Strabo. The year before the
battle of Actium, Candace invaded Egypt, and com-
pelled the Roman garrisons of Syene, Elephantine,
and Philae to surrender. Caius Petronius, Roman
prefect of Egypt, marched against the Ethiopians,
and routed Candace near Pselcha, after which the vic-
tor ravaged great part of Ethiopia.
When Petronius left the country, Candace attacked
the garrison he had left in Premnis. But directly
the prefect heard of this he returned hastily to
Meroe, again defeated the Ethiopians, and imposed
Female Warriors.
53
a heavy tribute on the kingdom. Candace sent an
embassy to Octavius, who was then at Samos,
suing for peace. The dictator not only granted
her prayer, but remitted the tribute levied by Pe-
tronius.
The next female sovereign who defied Rome on
the battle-field was of a very different stamp from
Cleopatra, or even Candace. This was Boadicea,
the *' British Warrior Queen/' the story of whose
wrongs and bravery was for centuries a favourite
subject with poets. Her name, which has been
variously written Boadicea, Boudicea, Bonduca,
Vonduca, Voadicea, or Woda, signified " the Woman
of the Sword," and in the ancient British or Welsh
language is equivalent to Victoria. She was the
daughter of Cadalla, King of the Brigantes ; and,
through her mother, Europeia, daughter of Evanus,
King of Scotland, she claimed descent from the kings
of Troy and the Ptolemies of Egypt.
Boadicea's career was a sad and a stormy one
from first to last. At an early age she was com-
pelled by her step-mother, the wicked, ambitious,
Cartismandua, to marry Arviragus, son of that queen
by her first husband. King Cymbeline. Arviragus
was King of the Iceni, who possessed a great part of
Essex, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. They are said
by Tacitus to have been a rich and powerful nation.
54 Female Warriors.
After the queen had presented her lord with a son
and two daughters, the Emperor Claudius came to
Britain. Arviragus, having suffered several defeats,
was compelled to divorce Boadicea, and marry
Gwenissa, the emperor's daughter. A general in-
surrection of the Britons was the result ; and the
natives, led at first by the famous Caractacus, brother
of Boadicea, and ultimately joined by Arviragus
himself, were defeated again and again by the
Romans. Weary at last of the never-ending struggle,
Arviragus and Boadicea accepted very humiliating
terms from Vespasian, and were permitted to retain
their dominions.
Towards the close of his life Arviragus appears,
for some unexplained reason, to have changed his
name to Prasutagus. Dreading the rapacity of the
Romans, he thought to secure their protection for
Boadicea and her two daughters (her son died long
before), by making the emperor Nero joint-heir to
his dominions. He died a.d. 6i. Scarcely had he
ceased to breathe, when Catus, the Roman procu-
rator, who commanded in the absence of Suetonius
Paulinus, Governor of Britain, annexed the countrj'
of the Iceni, siezed the personal effects of the deceased
monarch, treated all his relations as prisoners of
war, despoiled the wealthier Iceni, imposed heavy
taxes upon the poor, and demanded from Boadicea
the payment of large sums which her father, Cadalla,
Female Warriors. 55
had bestowed upon the Romans. Unable to pay, the
queen was publicly whipped, and her daughters were
treated even more shamefully.
Burning for revenge, Boadicea raised the standard
of revolt. She was soon joined by patriots from
all parts of Britain. Eighty thousand men, headed
b}^ the queen, rushed down like wild beasts on the
colonies of Camulodunum (Maiden), Colchester, and
Verulam (St. Alban's), putting to death, in the first-
named city, with every torture they could devise,
more than seventy thousand persons of every age
and sex.
Shortly after the destruction of Camulodunum,
Boadicea was joined by her brother Corbred, king
of Scots. Together they marched to the attack on
Colchester, Petilius Cerialis, the conqueror of
Batavia, marched out from Verulam at the head of
the ninth legion to oppose the victorious Britons.
He had lately received from Germany reinforce-
ments, amounting to eight auxiliary cohorts of one
thousand horse. A furious battle ensued, resulting
in the total defeat of the Romans. Upwards of six
thousand Romans and three thousand confederate
Britons (their allies) were slain.
Petilius fled with his broken cohorts — for, it is
said, not even one foot-soldier escaped the carnage —
to his entrenched camp. Catus Decianus, the
procurator, was severely wounded in the engage-
56 Female Warriors.
ment, and, struck with terror, he continued his pre-
cipitate flight over sea into Gaul.
Suetonius Paulinus, absent at the time on that
expedition which concluded with the massacre of
the Druids in Mona (the Isle of Anglesea), hastened
back to South Britain. With ten thousand men, he
entered London ; but, despite the prayers of the
people, he deserted it at once, and encamped at a
short distance north of the city. Scarcely had he
departed, when Boadicea marched directly on
London, captured it after a slight resistance, and
put the inhabitants to the sword.
For some time Suetonius was afraid to venture on
a battle against a victorious queen commanding a
force so immeasurably superior to his own, amount-
ing, according to Tacitus, to one hundred thousand,
while Dio Cassius raises the number as high as
two hundred and thirty thousand ; while the Romans
could muster scarcely ten thousand. At last an
engagement took place on a wild spot, guarded in
the rear by a dense forest.
Before the battle, Boadicea passed up and
down in her chariot, exhorting the warriors to
avenge her wrongs and those of her daughters.
Dio Cassius has described the British Queen,
as she appeared on that memorable day. She was
a woman of lofty stature, with a noble, severe
expression, and a dazzlingly fair complexion, re-
Female Warriors. 57
markable even amongst the British women, who
were famous for the whiteness of their skin. Her
long yellow hair, floating in the wind, reached
almost to the ground. She wore a tunic of various
colours, hanging in folds, and over this was a
shorter one, confined at the waist by a chain of
gold. Round her alabaster neck was a magnificent
** torques," or collar of twisted gold-wire. Her
hands and arms were uncovered, save for the rings
and bracelets which adorned them. A large British
mantle -surmounted, but did not conceal the rest of
her attire.
Suetonius on his side used all his powers of
oratory to excite the Romans to do their best,
telling them to " despise the savage uproar, the
shouts and yells of undisciplined barbarians,'*
amongst whom, he said, " the women out-numbered
the men."
The battle was long and obstinately contested ;
but the steady order of the iron legions triumphed
over the savage onslaught of the Britons. The
latter were routed with terrible slaughter, leaving,
Tacitus says, upwards of eighty thousand dead on
the field. The Romans lost only five hundred.
" The glory won on this day," adds Tacitus, " was
equal to that of the most renowned victories of the
ancient Romans."
The exact scene of this engagement has been
58 Female Warriors.
variously placed by different writers. Some decide
that Battle- Bridge, King's Cross, marks the spot ;
while by others it has been settled as identical with
the ancient camp called Ambresbury Banks, near
Epping. Some even place it at Winchester.
Boadicea, rather than let herself be taken alive,
put an end to her own existence by poison. She
was afterwards interred with due honours by her
faithful adherents.
The two daughters of Boadicea, completely
armed, fought most valiantly in the battle ; and
even during the rout of their countrymen they
strove wildly for victory. At last they were made
prisoners, and brought into the presence of Sueto-
nius, who expressed deep sympathy for them, and
spoke with indignation of their oppressors.
The elder princess, by the intervention of Sueto-
nius, was married, some months later, to Marius,
also styled Westmer, son of AmragusandGwenissa.
This prince was acknowledged by the Romans as
King of the Iceni, over whom he ruled for many
years. His son Coel was the father of Lucius, the
first Christian king of Britain. Boadicea, the
younger daughter, inherited not only her mother's
name, but her bold, dauntless spirit, and her relent-
less hatred of the Romans. Marius, fearing her
influence over the Iceni, banished her from his
court. She raised a formidable army of Brigantes
Female Warriors. 59
and Picts, and sailed to Galloway, which was
occupied by the Romans. Marching in the dead of
the night, she fell on the encampment of the foe
and slew several hundred men. The entire Roman
army would probably have been put to the sword
had not Petilius, the general, ordered his men to
light torches. The Britons were driven off, and
next morning Boadicea was attacked and defeated
in her own camp.
Next day Boadicea marched to Epiake, the
Roman head-quarters in that district, and setting it
on fire, destroyed the garrison. Shortly after this
she was captured in an ambuscade. It is said by
some that the young princess, expecting a horrible
death, followed the example of her mother, and took
poison. Others, however, declare that she was
brought alive into the presence of the Roman com-
mander, who interrogated her respecting the object
of her invasion, when Boadicea, making a spirited
answer, was slain by his guards.
The bravery of Boadicea and her daughters was
not so strange in those days as it might now be.
The British and Caledonian women were, as a rule,
brave and warlike, and invariably followed their
husbands to battle. More than five thousand women
enlisted under the banners of Boadicea, and fought,
many of them, as bravely as the men. Women,
even- far . advanced in years, marched with their
6o Female Warriors,
male relations to the defence of king or country ;
and those who did not fight hand to hand with the
foe, peppered him well from a distance with volleys
of stones. To render themselves competent to
share the perils and dangers of the battle-field, the
women, in times of peace, practised the use of arms,
and inured themselves to fatigue and hardship ; as
Holinshed says, *' never refusing to undergo any
labour or fatigue assigned them by their leader."
The women of Caledonia were equally warlike.
In a curious old book of engravings published in
London during the last century, entitled a " Collec-
tion of Dresses of Different Nations, Ancient and
Modern," there are three plates, one of which re-
presents a Caledonian woman, after De Brii, dressed
in a short garment, and armed with masculine
weapons ; the other two represent the wife and
daughter of a Pict. The woman Pict is entirely
naked, and is tattooed and painted with stars, rays,
and various similar devices. In one hand she grasps
a lance and in the other two darts. The girl differs
from the mother only in being painted with divers
floral ornaments in lieu of the astronomical adorn-
ments.
The Gallic and German women also, joined fre-
quently in the battles between rival tribes. Philo-
stratus, probably for this reason, speaks of Amazons
living on the shores of the Danube ; and in Lucius
Female Warriors. 6i
Flaccus we also read of German Amazons. The
Allemanni, the Marcomanni, the Quadi, and ,the
other warlike tribes who dwelt beyond the Rhine
were always accompanied by their wives and
daughters whenever they set out on an expedition.
During the battle, such of the women as took no
share in the action, stood on the outskirts, cheering
and encouraging the warriors. More than once a
beaten army of Germans was stopped in its flight by
the women, and obliged, through very shame, to
turn again and confront the enemy. If their side
was defeated the German women almost invariably
committed suicide on the corpses of their friends.
During the wars of Marcus Aurelius with the Mar-
comanni and Quadi, several women were found
amongst the slain, many clad in armour.
Under the patronage of the emperors the combats
of Roman matrons in the amphitheatre afforded
intense gratification to a pleasure-seeking public.
Juvenal, the satirist, regards these female duels
from a ludicrous point of view. " What a fine
business it would be," he says, " for a man to cry out
at an auction of his wife's equipment, * Who bids
up for my wife's boots ? Who'll give most for her
corslet, helmet, and gauntlet 1' "
The Romans, however, often tried to raise amateur
corps of female warriors, in imitation of the ancient
Amazons, whose warlike deeds were much admired in
62 Female Warriors.
the imperial city. Suetonius tells us that Nero,
when he learned the news of Galba's revolt, dressed
up the women of his seraglio as Amazons, arming
them with battle-axes and small bucklers, and intend-
ing to march at their head against the rebels.
In the third century the Roman empire was in a
state of dire confusion. So many governors of pro-
vinces and commanders of legions had assumed the
purple, with more or less success, in various parts of
the world, that at last the Emperor, who was recog-
nised by the senate at Rome, though nominally
sovereign of the universe, was, in fact, very little
more than ruler of Italy. One of the first to dispute
the imperial dignity in Europe was Posthumus,
commander of the legions in Gaul. He so far
acquired the affections of his soldiers that they pro-
claimed him Emperor of the West, A.D., 257. His
dominion, the capital of which was Cologne, extended
over Gaul, Spain, and Britain.
There dwelt in Cologne a noble Roman lady
named Victoria. Some say she was the sister of
Posthumus. Be that as it may, she persuaded the
emperor to raise her son, Victorinus, to the throne,
as his colleague ; and when Posthumus was murdered
by the soldiers, three years later, Victorinus remained
sole emperor of the West. He was a brave soldier
and an able general, and reigned over Gaul for about
Female Warriors. 63
a year longer, when he was slain by the troops, a.d.
269. His eldest son, named after himself, was now
proclaimed emperor; but in a few days he, too, fell a
victim to the fury of the legions.
An ordinary mind would have sunk beneath this
double misfortune ; but the *^ Heroine of the West "
was cast in a very different mould from most women.
Exceedingly ambitious, she possessed both the cour-
age and the ability to carry out her schemes. Even
when her son was living, she held the reins of govern-
ment. So great was her influence over the legions,
they obeyed her behests in everything without a
murmur. She passed much of her time amongst
them, and received thence the title of Mater Castro-
rum, — " Mother of the Camp/' When her son became
emperor, she, as his mother, received the title of
Augusta.
Victoria bestowed the vacant throne first on
Marius, a distinguished general, who was slain in a
few days, and next on Tetricus, the chief noble in
Aquitaine, a distant relative of her own. During his
absence in Spain she continued to govern the Gallic
provinces. Placing herself at the head of the troops,
she maintained the authority she had seized against all
the armies sent from Rome. Even during the early
days of Aurelian's reign, she opposed the imperial
forces with the same bold and undaunted spirit, and
with equal success.
64 Female Warriors,
Very soon Tetricus grew weary of being subordi-
nate to Victoria. The empress, stung by his ingrati-
tude, would have hurled him from the throne to which
she had raised him ; but Tetricus took care to
prevent this by causing Victoria to be poisoned,
A.D. 269, a few months after his own accession.
Since the days of Semiramis no female ruler in
ancient times attained so high a pinnacle of great-
ness throughout the East as Zenobia. For more
than five years, unaided, she set the Roman emperors
at defiance, defeated their armies, and laughed equally
at their threats and their underhand machinations.
Septimia Zenobia was an Arab princess, and while
some writers assert that she was a Jewess, the
heroine herself claimed descent, through her father
Amru, from the Ptolemies of Egypt. Truly she was
as beautiful as any Egyptian queen — even the hand-
some Cleopatra. By some writers she has been
cited as the loveliest woman of her age. An olive
complexion, pearly teeth, large, brilliant, black eyes,
which sparkled alternately with the fire of the heroine
and the sweetness of the loving wife — such were the
charms of her face. Her voice was rich and musical.
She was conversant with Greek, Latin, Syriac, and
Egyptian ; and compiled for her own reading an
epitome of Homer. Her tutor in philosophy was the
famous Greek, Cassius Longinus.
Female Warriors. 65
Zenobia was a widow, and the mother of a son,
Vhaballathus, when she wedded Odenathus, Prince
of Palmyra. The latter, however, was a widower,
and also the father of a son — Ouarodes, or Herod, a
weak and effeminate youth.
Septimius Odenathus, who raised himself by his
own genius and the fortune of war, to the sovereignty
of the East, was, like his wife, an Arab. He was
chief prince of the wild Saracen tribes who dwelt in
the Syrian deserts, on the shores of the Euphrates.
Odenathus early learned the rudiments of war in the
exciting chase of wild beasts — a pastime which, to the
last, he never wearied of, and in which he was joined
with equal ardour by Zenobia. Together the royal
pair, during the intervals of peace, hunted lions,
panthers, or bears, through the woods and deserts
of Syria.
When the emperor Valerian was captured and
flayed alive by Sapor, King of Persia, A.D. 260,
Odenathus marched, at the head of an Arab
host, against the Persians, defeated them near
Antioch, compelled them to retreat, beat them again
on the banks of the Euphrates, and finally drove
them across the river ; capturing, in the first battle,
the greater part of the wives and treasures of Sapor.
Zenobia accompanied her husband in this, as in
all his subsequent expeditions, and bravely seconded
his efforts. She proved herself as good a soldier as
VOL. I. 5
66 Female Warriors.
any, and endured, with the utmost fortitude, the
same hardships as the meanest there. Disdaining
the use of a covered carriage, she frequently marched
several miles at the head of the troops.
Pursued closely by Odenathus and Zenobia, Sapor
fled through Mesopotamia, suffering many defeats,
losing towns and cities, and at last took refuge in
Ctesiphon, his capital, where the victors besieged
him for some months.
The Roman senate recognised the deeds of Oden-
athus by granting him the title of Augustus, a.d. 263.
In the following year the royal pair undertook a
second expedition against Sapor. New triumphs
were added to the glories of the last campaign. The
Persian king was once more forced to take refuge in
Ctesiphon, which would no doubt have fallen had
not the incursion of a horde of Scythian Goths into
Syria compelled Odenathus to raise the siege.
Surrounding nations soon learned to respect the
brave prince of Palmyra and his no less warlike
consort. Even Sapor, humiliated though he had
been, was glad, not merely to make peace, but to
join in close alliance with his conquerors, who were
threatened by the underhand machinations of the
contemptible emperor Gallienus. But the brilliant
career of Odenathus was unexpectedly brought to a
close by the hand of his nephew, who, believing him-
self insulted by the monarch, assassinated him,
Female Warriors. 67
together with his son Herod, at a banquet in the
city of Emesa, A.D. 267.
The murderer gained nothing but the empty plea-
sure of revenge. Scarcely had he assumed the title
of Augustus ere he was sacrificed by the royal widow
to the memory of her husband, though some his-
torians have accused her of being an accomplice in
the double murder. Zenobia was proclaimed queen ;
and, passing over Timolaus and Herennius, her sons
by Odenathus, she arrayed Vhaballathus in the
purple, and showed him to the troops as their
emperor.
With the death of Odenathus ceased that authority
granted him as a personal favour by the emperor
and senate of Rome ; and Gallienus despatched an
army to dethrone Zenobia. But the queen soon
compelled the Roman general to retreat into Europe
with the loss of both army and reputation. Zenobia
governed the East for more than five years ; and by
successive conquests she extended her dominions
from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean and the
borders of Bithynia ; and added, besides, the land of
the Ptolemies. Her power became so great that the
warlike Claudius II., who succeeded Gallienus, was
satisfied that while he was occupied in the defence
of Italy from the Goths and Germans, Zenobia
should assert the dignity of the Roman power in the
East.
=i— 2
\
68 Female Warriors.
Palmyra, the capital of the warrior queen, almost
rivalled the Eternal City in the magnificence of its
temples, its mansions, its public monuments, and
the luxury of its citizens. It became the great centre
of commerce between Europe and India, and its
merchants grew wealthy through the trade of East
and West. Arcades of lofty palms shadowed its
streets of marble palaces ; purling fountains, fed by
icy springs, rendered it a perfect Elysium in the
midst of burning arid sands. Schools, museums,
libraries, fostered by the care of Zenobia, encouraged
and aided the arts and literature.
At last the stern, the inflexible Aurelian ascended
the throne of the Caesars. Firmly resolved to rid the
empire of every usurper, great or small, he began by
re-conquering Gaul and making prisoner the Western
ursurper, Tetricus. He then passed into Asia, a.d.
272, when his presence alone was sufficient to bring
back Bithynia to its allegiance. Of course Zenobia
did not indolently permit an invader to approach
within a hundred miles of her capital without taking
measures to arrest his progress. She marched with
all her forces to oppose him ; but was signally defeated
in two battles, the first near Antioch, the second near
Emesa. In both engagements the queen animated
the soldiers by her presence, though the actual com-
mand devolved on Zabdas, the conqueror of Egypt.
The latter, Zenobia's principal general, has been by
Female Warriors. 69
many supposed to have been Zahha., the queen's
sister ; this, however, is mere surmise.
After the second defeat, Zenobia was unable to
raise a third army. She retired within the walls of
her capital, prepared to make a gallant defence, and
boldly declared that her reign and her life should
end together.
Aurelian arrived before Palmyra, after a toilsome
march over the sandy desert which separated the city
from Antioch. His proposals being rejected with
scorn, he was obliged to begin the siege ; and, while
superintending the operations, he was wounded by a
dart.
" The Roman people," he wrote in a letter, " speak
with contempt of the war which I am waging
against a woman. They are ignorant both of the
character and of the power of Zenobia. It is im-
possible to enumerate her warlike preparations of
stones, of arrows, and of every species of missile
weapons. Every part of the walls is provided with
two or three balistae, and artificial fires are thrown
from her military engines. The fear of punishment
has armed her with a desperate courage."
Zenobia was at first supported in her determined
resistance by the hope that the Roman army, having
no means of getting provisions, would soon be com-
pelled to retreat, and also by the expectation that
Persia would come to her aid. Disappointed in both
yo Female Warriors. '
calculations, she mounted her swiftest dromedary and
fled towards the Euphrates. But the Roman light
cavalry pursued, and soon overtook the queen, who
was brought back prisoner. Palmyra surrendered
almost immediately after, and was treated with un-
expected clemency by the victor.
The courage of Zenobia entirely deserted her when
she heard the angry cries of the soldiers, who
clamoured for her immediate execution. She threw
the entire guilt of her obstinate resistance upon her
friends and counsellors, and the celebrated Longinus,
amongst others, fell a victim to the emperor^s rage.
Vhaballathus, the only surviving son of Zenobia,
withdrew into Armenia, where he ruled over a small
principality granted him by Aurelian.
When the emperor returned to Rome, in the
following year (a.d. 274), he celebrated, after the
manner of Roman conquerors, a magnificent triumph
in honour of his many victories over the Goths, the
Alemanni, Tetricus, and Zenobia. Elephants, royal
tigers, panthers, bears, armed gladiators, military
standards, and war-chariots passed in succession.
But the great object of attention was the Eastern
queen, who, completely laden with golden fetters,
a gold chain, supported by a slave, round her
neck, her limbs bending beneath the weight of the
jewels with which she was decked, was compelled to
precede, on foot, the triumphal car in which, not
Female Warriors. 7^
many months previously, she had hoped to enter the
gates of Rome as a conqueror.
After the conclusion of his triumph, Aurelian pre-
sented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur (or
Tivoli), about twenty miles from the capital ; and
here she passed the rest of her days as a Roman
matron. She died about the year 300. Her
daughters married into wealthy and noble families ;
some say, indeed, that Aurelian espoused one of them ;
and the family was not extinct even in the fifth
century. Baronius supposes Zenobius, Bishop of
Florence, in the days of Saint Ambrose, to have been
one of the great queen's descendants.
Amongst the numberless captives — Sarmatians,
Alemanni, Goths, Vandals, Gauls, Franks, Dacians,
Syrians, Arabs, Egyptians — who unwillingly graced
the triumph of Aurelian, were ten Gothic women,
captured in a battle between the Goths and Romans
when the emperor was driving the barbarians out of
Italy. Each party was distinguished in the proces-
sion by its own, or by some fancy name; these
Gothic females were designated " Amazons." Be-
sides these prisoners, many Gothic women and girls,
in male attire, had been found dead on the field of
battle.
Hunila, or Hunilda, one of these Gothic women,
was afterwards married to Bonosus, a wealthy and
influential Roman general, Governor of Rhsetia.
72 Female Warriors.
She was admired and distinguished amongst her
new friends for her beauty, wit, and virtue. But the
ci-devant Amazon kept up communications with hei
own countrymen ; and Bonosus, promised assistance
by his wife's relations, assumed the purple. For a
few months his authority extended over Gaul, Spain
and Britain ; but at last he was conquered by the
Emperor Probus. To avoid falling into the hands
of the victor, he put an end to his own life by hang-
ing J whereupon some wit, alluding to his favourite
vice (for Bonosus, they say, could drink as much as
ten strong men) remarked that " there hung a bottle,
not a man."
Probus spared the life of Hunila, and granted her
an annual pension for the rest of her days ; he per-
mitted her sons to enjoy their paternal estate.
Mavia, Queen of Pharan, another of those trouble-
some women who defied the Roman emperors, was
by birth a Roman, and by education a Christian.
. When very young she was carried away by a troop
of Arabs, who brought her to their prince, Obedien,
King of Pharan. The latter, who was himself a
Christian, charmed by the beauty of his captive,
made her his wife. At his death Mavia became sole
ruler of Pharan. Placing herself at the head of a
numerous army, a.d. 373, she invaded Palestine, and
advancing as far as Phoenicia, defeated the forces of
Female Warriors. 73
the emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian in a
series of battles extending over some months. The
Roman governor of Phoenicia, unable to make head
against the invader, was compelled to seek assistance
of the general commanding the Eastern emperor's
forces. The latter came speedily to his aid, and after
bragging much and loudly of what he would do,
engaged in battle with Mavia. He was signally
beaten, his army cut to pieces, and he had to fly
ignominiously.
After this victory the Queen of Pharan gained many
another battle, and she proved herself so dangerous
an opponent that the Romans were compelled to
sue for peace. Peace was at last concluded, on the
condition (dictated by Mavia) that the anchorite
Moses should be sent as bishop to Pharan. Having
'thus destroyed idolatry in Pharan, the queen re-
mained for the rest of her days in friendly relationship
with the Romans, to one of whom, Count Victor,
she gave her daughter in marriage.
Towards the close of the fourth century, one of the
Sapors, King of Persia, invaded Armenia, which for
many years previously had maintained its inde-
pendence. He was resolutely opposed by King
Tiranus and his wife Pharandsem, or Olympias ;
but after valiantly defending his throne for nearly
four years, Tiranus was deserted by his nobles
and compelled to surrender.
74 Female Warriors.
Armenia was once more reduced into a Persian
province, and divided between two of Sapor's
favourites. The city of Artogerassa was the only
stronghold which still dared to resist the Persians.
It was defended by Pharandsem. The Persians were
surprised and routed under the walls by a bold and
concerted sortie of the besieged ; but the former were
constantly reinforced, while the latter steadily
diminished in numbers, through famine and disease,
rather than by the weapons of the foe. After a siege
of fourteen months the city was compelled to sur-
render. Pharandsem, with her own hand, flung open
the gates, when she was seized by the victors, and,
by order of Sapor, impaled.
T
IV.
The Arabs— Henda, Wife of Abu Sofian, an Arab Chief
— Forka, an Arabian Lady — Women of Yemaumah — Arab and
Greek heroines at the Siege of Damascus — Khaullah — Prefect
of Tripoli's Daughter — Ayesha, Widow of the Prophet — Cahina
the Sorceress, Queen of the Berbers— Saidet, Queen of Persia
— Turkhan-Khatun, Sultana of Kharezme — Hadee'yah a
Maiden who precedes the Bedouin Arabs in Battle.
|HE ARABS; even in "the days of their
ignorance," were always a brave, war-
like people. Their liberty, almost the
only wealth they possessed, was jealously
guarded with such courage and determination, that
the greatest nations of antiquity were unable to
subdue them. With the preaching of Mohammed
began the glorious days of Arabia. Their semi-
obscurity as a nation, hitherto, had been due solely
to the want of some common bond of union, some
76 Female Warriors.
link to bind together the princes of the various
tribes. But when there was one leader to rally
round, one faith to propagate, one Paradise for those
who fell in conquering the heathen, the wild children
of the Desert proved that they could conquer foreign
countries as well as defend their native sands.
During the early days of Islamism, a vast number of
women, many belonging to the highest rank, followed
their relatives to battle, and fought for or against
the Koran as bravely as the men — nay, more than
once it was the valour of the Arab women that
retrieved the fortunes of the day.
The Prophet had many obstacles to overcome
before converting the great majority of his country-
men to the new faith. Scarcely had he promulgated
his new doctrines, and gathered round him a few
faithful adherents, when the neighbouring chiefs
rose up, sword in hand, to stifle the new movement,
ere it attained more dangerous dimensions. His
principal opponent during the first few years of the
Hegira was Abu Sofian, chief of the Koreishites,
who were, to a man, idolators. The first military
exploit of the Islamites was despoiling a wealthy
caravan, led by that great chieftain, in the valley of
Bedar. Abu Sofian, with three thousand soldiers,
avenged this insult on Mount Ohud, where the
Prophet, who had only nine hundred and fifty men,
was defeated and wounded ; barely escaping with
Female Warriors.
his life. In this action, fought in the third year of
the Hegira (a.d. 6ii), Henda, the wife of Abu
Sofian, commanded the reserve of the Koreishites.
She was accompanied by fifteen other women, of
high rank. By exhortation and singing they
animated the men to fight well. Indeed, the
ultimate success of Abu Sofian was due, in a great
measure, to their presence.
Another of Mohammed's early opponents was
Forka, an Arab lady possessing a castle and immense
wealth. She was a kind of feudal peeress, and
retained a body of soldiers to defend her domain.
For some years she defied the Islamites ; but at last
Zeid, one of the principal Moslem leaders, was
despatched to seize her castle. Forka defended herself
for some time with obstinacy and resolution ; but,
after a troublesome and lengthy siege, the fortress
was taken by storm, and Forka was slain, together
with the best part of the garrison. Her daughter,
with all her wealth, became the prey of the victors.
The rapid success of Mohammed induced many
Arabs to take up the prophetic ofBce on their own
account ; imitators arose in various parts of Arabia,
sometimes achieving a temporary success almost
rivalling that of Mohammed. The most success-
ful was named Mosseylemah, whose head-quarters
were the city and suburbs of Yemaumah. During
the life-time of Mohammed, little notice was taken
78 Female Warriors.
of this rival by the " true believers ; " but after the
death of the Prophet, a.d. 632, the Caliph Abubeker
despatched Khaled, *^ the Sword of God," with a
large force to capture Yemaumah. Mosseylemah
and nearly all his followers were slain in a fierce
action fought near the city. Mujaia, one of the
impostor's principal officers, who had been made
prisoner before the battle, wishing to save his
fellow-citizens from total extermination, told Khaled
that the city was still crowded with brave warriors
ready to shed the last drop of blood in defence of
their homes ; and he recommended the Arab general
to open negotiations at once. Leaving the latter
to consider his advice, Mujaia found means to com-
municate with the inhabitants, whom he sent word
to arm all the women and girls in helmets and mail,
and to distribute them, armed with spears and
swords, on the walls.
Khaled perceiving the ramparts bristling with
arms, began to fear that an assault on a stronghold
so well defended might become an enterprise of some
magnitude. So — though contrary to his pet war-
cry, " No quarter given, and none received," — the
ruthless Islamite thought it best to accept a capitu-
lation on comparatively mild terms.
On entering Yemaumah, Khaled soon saw the
deception practised upon him. But, with a
generosity of which he was not often guilty^ he
Female Warriors. 79
permitted the people to enjoy the benefits of the
treaty.
During the siege of Damascus by Khaled,
A.D. 633, several instances occurred of female
heroism, both on the side of the Arabs and that of
the Greeks. One day the governor of Damascus
marched out to dislodge the besiegers ; the latter,
pretending to fly, led the Greeks to a considerable
distance from the city. Then turning upon the foe,
they assailed him on every side. Seffwaun the
Salmian, a distinguished Moslem chief, seeing a
Greek offider conspicuous for the splendour of his
armour, knocked him down with a blow of his
mace. He was about to strip the fallen chief, when
he found himself fiercely attacked by the widow,
who had accompanied her husband into battle, and
whose death she now prepared to avenge. Seffwaun,
wishing to avoid the dishonor of shedding the blood
of a woman, contrived by dexterous manipulation
of his sword to frighten his frail antagonist without
wounding her or being himself wounded. She was
soon compelled to retire for safety behind the
swords and spears of her friends.
Another day some Arab women were captured
by the Greeks during one of the skirmishes. While
the Greeks were carousing in their tents, a girl
named Khaullah, one of the prisoners, urged her
sisters in captivity to arm themselves with tent-
8o Female Warriors.
poles, and brain anybody who approached them.
She set the example by shattering the skull of a
Greek soldier who was so imprudent as to venture
within reach of her arm. A general conflict ensued ;
ending by Khaled and several Arab horsemen coming
to the rescue and carrying off the Islamite damsels.
Either this heroine, or another of the same name
afterwards turned the fortunes of the day in the
battle of Yermouks, which decided the fate of Syria.
The Arabs, far out-numbered by the Greeks, fled to
their tents, and refused to stir, despite the alternate
taunts or encouraging words of the women. The
latter at last, in despair, armed themselves, and
withstood the foe till night closed in to end the
combat. Next day, led by Khaullah, sister of one
of their principal commanders, the women again
marched to the attack. In leading the van,
Khaullah was struck down by a Greek ; but Wafeira,
her principal female friend, ran to her aid and cut
off the soldier's head. The Arabs, shamed into their
former courage by the noble conduct of the women,
attacked the Christians with such fury that the
latter were speedily routed, with a loss, it is said,
of one hundred and fifty thousand slain and about
fifty thousand made prisoners.
Khaullah, the leading heroine of this fight, was
afterwards married to the ill-starred Caliph Ali.
In the year 647, Abdallah, the Moslem governor
Female Warriors. 8 1
of Alexandria, crossed the Libyan Desert and
appeared before the walls of Tripoli, at that time
the most important city on the Coast of Barbary.
After surprising and cutting to pieces several
thousand Greeks who were marching to reinforce
the garrison, the Arabs, frustrated in an attempt to
storm the massive fortifications, prepared to lay
formal siege. The city was strengthened very soon
by Gregorius, the Greek prefect, who arrived at
the head of one hundred and twenty thousand men.
He rejected indignantly the option of the Koran or
tribute. For several days both armies engaged in
deadly combat, from dawn till the hour of noon, when,
from fatigue and thirst caused by the blazing sun,
they were compelled to seek shelter and irefreshment.
The daughter of Gregorius, a young girl of great
beauty, fought by her father's side throughout every
engagement. She had been trained from early
youth to excel in warlike exercises; and by the
splendour of her arms and apparel she was con-
spicuous amidst the dust and confusion of the fight.
Gregorius, to excite his soldiers to deeds of bravery,
offered her hand and one hundred thousand pieces
of gold to the man who brought him the head of
Abdallah, the Moslem general. When the Arabs
heard this they compelled their leader to withdraw
from the field. ,
The Moslems, discouraged by the absence of their
VOL. I. 6
82 Female Warriors.
chief, were rapidly giving way ; but the counsels of
Zobeir, a brave Arab warrior, turned the fortunes
of the day.
" Retort on the infidels," cried he, " their un-
generous attempts. Proclaim throughout the ranks
that the head of Gregorius will be repaid with his
captive daughter, and the equal sum of one hundred
thousand pieces of gold.'*
This was accordingly proclaimed. At the same
time Zobeir resorted to a stratagem which took the
Greeks completely by surprise, and gained an easy
victory for the Arabs. The contending armies
having, as usual, separated after the engagement,
were retiring to their respective camps overcome by
fatigue, when the two Moslem chiefs, who had
placed themselves in ambush with fresh troops,
rushed out upon the exhausted Greeks and routed
them with fearful slaughter. The prefect himself was
slain by the hand of Zobeir ; his daughter, while
seeking revenge or death in the thick of the fight,
was surrounded and captured.
Ayesha, daughter of Caliph Abubeker, was the
favourite wife of the Prophet. After the death of
her husband she lived in retirement, for twenty
years, at Medina. But she possessed a restless,
ambitious spirit, and had no inclination for a life of
repose and obscurity. After the sudden murder of
Female Warriors. 83
Caliph Othman, in 654, when Ali was elected, she
refused to acknowledge the latter, and declared her
belief that he had a share in the murder of his
predecessor. The nation, divided into opposing
factions, was soon plunged into civil war. The
malcontents, headed by Ayesha, assembled in
thousands at Mecca, and marched thence to
Bassorah, where they expected to find warm support.
Arrived before Bassorah they were astounded to
find the gates shut against them. Ayesha, mounted
on a camel, advanced to the walls and harangued
those assembled on the battlements. But she was
old and crabbed, with sharp features and a shrill
voice — rendered even more shrill by the rapidity
with which she spoke, — so the people only laughed
at her. The louder they laughed, the shriller her
accents grew. They reproached her for riding forth,
bare-faced, to foment dissension among the Faith-
ful; and they jeered at her followers for bringing
their old grandmother in place of their young and
handsome wives.
However, a number of the citizens were secretly
in favour of the malcontents ; and the friends of
Ayesha seized the palace one dark night, bastinadoed
the governor, plucked out his beard, and sent him
back to his master. Great, however, was the
dismay of Ayesha when the Caliph encamped one
morning before Bassorah ; but, resolved not to give
6—2
84 Female Warriors.
way, she rejected the proposals of Ali, and plunged
both armies into a fierce engagement before very
well knowing what she was about. But terrified
at the horrors of war, to which until this day she
was almost a stranger, the old woman besought
Kaub, who led her camel, to throw himself between
the combatants. In trying to obey her command
he was slain.
The large white camel of Ayesha soon became
the rallying-point of the insurgents, around which
the fury of the battle concentrated. The reins
were held alternately by the Modian Arabs, who
chanted pieces of poetry ; and it is said that out of
the tribe of Benni Beiauziah alone not less than
two hundred and eighty lost a hand on this occasion.
The howdah, pierced all over with arrows, had
something the appearance of a porcupine or a giant
pincushion.
After the battle had raged for several hours, the
Caliph, seeing plainly that it would go on so long
as the camel remained alive, ordered his chiefs to
direct all their efforts towards cutting down the
beast. First one leg was cut off; but the camel
maintained its erect position. Another leg was cut
off; yet the animal remained immovable. For a
moment the soldiers of Ali thought the camel
was a sorcerer or a genie. But a third leg was cut
off, and the camel sank to the ground.
Female Warriors, 85
The battle soon ended ; all resistance ceased when
the insurgents knew that their leader was taken.
Ali treated his prisoner with that true chivalry which
had already sprung up amongst the Arabs. He sent
her home to Medina, escorted by female attendants
disguised as soldiers, and while he lived she was not
permitted to meddle in politics. After the murder
of Ali she resumed her former position. Many years
after, when Moawyah wished to make the Caliphate
hereditary in his family, he purchased the influence
of Ayesha by the gift of a pair of bracelets valued
at one hundred and fifty thousand dinars, or nearly
seventy thousand pounds.
The " Battle of the Camel," as it is generally
styled by Oriental historians, was fought in
December, a.d. 656, (a.h. 36.)
During the reign of Caliph Abdul - Malek the
Islamites in northern Africa found a most formidable
opponent in Cahina the sorceress, Queen of the
Berbers. Under the lead of this pseudo-prophetess,
the original natives of Barbary made a determined
stand for many years against the Koran.
Cahina directed her followers to lay waste the
lands that lay between Egypt and her domi-
nions, telling them that it was the fruitfulness
of those districts which caused the Arab invasions.
Her commands were only too faithfully executed.
86 Female Warriors.
Cities, towns, and villages were destroyed; fields
desolated, trees cut down, and the entire face of the
land changed from a beautiful garden planted with
waving palms and lovely flowers, into an arid waste
with scarcely a tree or blade of grass to be seen.
But this scheme ultimately proved the ruin of
Cahina. The natives of the ruined districts joyfully
welcomed the Moslems on their next invasion. Ca-
hina again took the field with all her forces ; but her
ranks this time were thinned by desertion. She
was speedily defeated and made prisoner with her
principal advisers. Rejecting the proposals of the
Arab general — the Koran or tribute — her head was
cut off, put in a camphor-scented casket of great
price, and sent to the Caliph.
Although Persia was one of the earliest conquests
effected by the followers of Islam, scarcely two
centuries had elapsed before it was divided into a
number of independent states, ruled by Arab,
Turkish, or Persian princes. Towards the close of the
tenth century. Queen Seidet, widow of one of these
independent monarchs, governed the state as regent
for her son, who was a minor. She ruled with so
much wisdom, and under her guidance the kingdom
flourished so greatly, that she had every reason to
be offended when her son, grown old enough to take
the reins of government, appointed Avicenna, the
Female Warriors. 87
family physician, to be his Grand Vizier, and com-
mitted everything into his hands. Avicenna treated
the queen with so little respect that the latter re-
tired from court, raised troops, and marched against
her son, whose forces she easily routed. Not wish-
ing, however, to deprive him of the throne, she
merely acted as his chief adviser, and aided him with
salutary counsels so long as she lived.
Sultan Mahmoud, founder of the Gaznevide
dynasty, held Seidet in the deepest respect. While
she lived he refrained from attacking her son's
dominions ; but after her death he annexed them
without scruple.
In these days few persons, save students of Oriental
history, have even so much as heard of Kharezme,
in Tartary; yet in the eleventh and twelth cen-
turies it was considered by surrounding nations as
the most powerful state in Asia, and its court the
most magnificent. At the beginning of the thirteenth
century, it was actually, although not nominally,
governed by Turkhan Khatun, mother of the reign-
ing Sultan. In those days the Mongols, under the
irresistible Jenghiz Khan, were advancing with
rapid strides towards Europe. It was not long
before they besieged the capital of Kharezme. The
city held out for twelve months against the Mongol
hordes commanded by the three sons of Jenghiz
88 Female Warriors.
Khan. The inhabitants, male and female, made a
defence worthy of their ancient fame. Even the
women aided in the numberless sorties made from
the city. But at last, despite their bravery, the
place was taken by storm. Men and women alike
fought hand to hand with the Mongols, and retired
from street to street, till scarcely any remained
alive.
According to the lowest computation more than
one hundred thousand Kharezmians were slain
during the siege. The valour displayed by the women
became so famous throughout Asia, that many
Oriental historians, by way of accounting for it,
gravely assert that the people of Kharezme were
xiescended from the Amazons.
Mr. Palgrave, who travelled through Arabia in
1862-3, says that it is customary amongst the
Bedouin Arabs, when they go into battle, to have
their army preceded by a maiden of good family,
styled a Hadee'yah, who rides on a camel into the
midst of the fight, encouraging the men to fight
bravely by reciting pieces of extempore poetry,
satirical or heroic, as best suits the occasion. Very
frequently the Hadee'yah is slain. Such was the
fate of a brave girl, noted for her eloquence and
gigantic stature, who led on the Amjan Bedouins at
Koweyt rather more than twenty years ago, against
Fe^nale Warriors. 89
Abd-Allah, heir to the throne of Nejed. This
"Arabian Bellona" was slain by the lance of a
Nejdean warrior, and her death is said to have been
the principal cause of the final rout of the Amjan
army.
V.
Libyssa and Valasca, Queens of Bohemia — Wanda, Queen of
Poland— Moors in Spain — Women of Tudmir — Female Knights
of Tortosa— Alleged Origin of the word " Infantry '' — Queen
Carcas — Elfrida, Daughter of Alfred the Great — Igor, Grand
Duchess of Russia — Richilda, Countess of Hainault.
PUROPE, during the two or three centuries
after the downfall of the Roman Empire,
bears a strong resemblance to Greece
during the heroic age. In the Nibelun-
gen, the Iliad of those days, we read of godlike
heroes, Herculean warriors, giant princes, and Amazon
queens. That was an age when might constituted
right, when rulers led their own armies in the field,
where the lead was given to the strongest or the
most daring.
The Salique law seems in those days to have been
very generally disregarded — if indeed it had been
Female Warriors. 91
introduced as yet ; for we read of more than one
queen who ruled alone over the more or less bar-
barous kingdoms of Europe, i^neas Sylvius narrates
how a warlike queen named Libyssa ascended the
throne of Bohemia on the death of her father, King
Crocus. Her husband, Przemislas, whom she es-
poused in 632, being originally only a peasant, was
probably a humble, weak-minded individual, ruled
by his wife ; for the queen proceeded to enrol the
greater number of her female subjects into a species
of militia^ They were trained, like the Amazons,
to the use of arms and to ride on horseback. After
the death of Libyssa, the narrator further says that
the principal favourite of the queen, Valasca, with
the assistance of the female troops, seized the throne,
and held it until her death, which occurred seven
years later. Resolved to form a nation of Amazons,
Valasca passed a law that all male children should
have their right eyes put out and their thumbs cut
off, to keep them from using bow and arrows. And
this barbarous order was rigorously enforced while
Valasca lived, the men not daring to raise any
complaint. The demise of this Amazon-queen soon
restored everything to its natural order.
Wanda, the first Queen-Regnant of Poland, was
unanimously elected by the people on the death of
her father, Cracus, about the year 700. She was a
92 Female Warriors,
talented woman, and esteemed herself fully capable
of conducting the government without the assistance
of a husband. To the numerous offers of marriage
she received, a refusal was the invariable answer.
At last Rudiger, a German prince, hoping to bring
about a happy union by force of arms, invaded
Poland with a great army.
Wanda raised troops, and advanced to meet the
invaders. When the opposing armies came in sight,
Rudiger, believing that his warlike preparations must
needs have terrified the queen, besought her to ac-
cept him, and thus save the lives of their soldiers.
Wanda answered that no man should ever share her
throne, because he would love her kingdom better
than herself. When this spirited answer was spread
amongst Rudiger's officers, they refused to fight
against so heroic a queen. Surrounding the prince,
they endeavoured to dissuade him from risking a
battle; but finding their remonstrances vain, they
refused to second his efforts, and Rudiger, in despair,
flung himself on his sword.
Wanda returned in triumph to Cracow. She never
received another proposal of marriage.
In the year 711 the Moors, commanded by Tarik,
crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and invaded Spain.
Even after the defeat and death of their king, the
Goths disputed every foot of ground before giving
Female Warriors. 93
way to the Infidels. The latter, impeded at every
step, were glad to grant peace on almost any terms.
One of the principal Gothic leaders was Theodomir,
or Tudmir Ben Gobdas, a Spanish noble belonging
to one of the most honourable families in the land.
He possessed large estates in the South, and his
authority over them was so great that not only was
the district named after him, the Land of Tudmir,
but he was styled King. Having been totally routed
in a battle, when the greater number of his soldiers
were slain, he escaped to the fortified citadel of
Tudmir, where he was soon besieged by the Moors.
Finding his position grow daily more and more
untenable, Theodomir resorted to an expedient,
already practised by the people of Yemaumah when
besieged by Khaled. He commanded all the women
to put on male attire, to tie their hair under
their chin (to imitate long beards), and to appear,
armed with bows and arrows, lances, swords, and
shields, on the towers and battlements, in sight of
the Moors. He himself, with his few remaining
soldiers, stood in front, to conceal as much as
possible these feminine guards.
The Moors, overrating the strength of the garrison,
offered Theodomir advantageous terms, which he
accepted. Although they afterwards discovered the
fraud, the Infidels scrupulously observed the treaty.
The women of Tortosa distinguished themselves
94 Female Warriors.
so highly in some skirmishes with the Moors, that
a military Order of Knighthood was conferred upon
them.
The word "Infantry" is said to owe its origin to
one of the Spanish Infantas, who, hearing that her
father had been defeated by the Moors, raised a body
of foot-soldiers, and placing herself at their head,
defeated the infidels. In memory of her bravery,
foot-soldiers were henceforth styled Infantry.
The Moors never could obtain a footing north of
the Pyrenees ; yet, despite the invariable want of
success attending their attempts, they made constant
incursions into France, besieging towns, burning
villages, and ravaging the open country. Amongst
other cities besieged by them was Carcassonne,
situated on the banks of the river Aude, governed
in those days by queen Carcas, famous for her
military prowess. When Charlemagne, a few years
previously, besieged the city, it was defended so
courageously that he permitted the queen to retain
the sovereignty.
The Saracens, ridiculing the notion of a female
warrior, declared that, in place of fighting, she ought
to be spinning. This contemptuous speech, spoken
immediately under the city walls, was overheard by
queen Carcas. Arming herself with a lance, to
which, as if it had been a distaff, she attached a
Female Warriors.
95
quantity of hemp, she set the hemp on fire, and
rushed into the midst of the Saracens, who fled,
terrified, in all directions.
The shield and lance of queen Carcas may yet be
seen at Carcassonne. Over the city gate there is an
effigy of the royal heroine, with the inscription
*' Carcas sum."
While the South of Europe was overrun by the
Saracens, England, Ireland, and Scotland were
harassed by the terrible Danes, who for several
centuries kept these islands in constant terror. The
most powerful opponent of the Danes in England
was, as everyone knows. King Alfred the Great.
During the latter years of his reign, the land was
tolerably secure from invasion ; but after his death
the Vikings and their wild followers came swarming
over the country again, burning, plundering, mas-
sacreing, just as they had done before Alfred drove
them away. Elfrida, the eldest daughter of King
Alfred, inherited all her father^ s courage and war-
like spirit, and, like him, proved an implacable foe
to the Danes. She was married early to Ethelred,
Earl of Mercia; and on his death the government
of the province devolved upon the widow. And
nobly did she fulfil her trust. Mercia was greatly
harassed by the Danes — as, indeed, was the entire
country in those days. The Welsh joined in alliance
96 Female Warriors.
with the invaders, and would have marched to their
aid but for the promptitude of Elfrida, who entered
Wales, 916, at the head of an army, and took Breck-
nock by storm, capturing therein Queen Anghared
and many of her attendants. The " Lady of Mercia "
had another motive in this invasion, which rendered
Wales tributary to the Saxons ; and this motive was
the desire to avenge the death of the good Abbot
Egbert, whom the Welsh had slain.
King Owen fled to Derby, where he was kindly
received by the Danes. When Elfrida learned this
she marched thither, and captured the city " before
Lammas," 918. So reckless was she of her own
safety on this memorable day, that it had almost
proved to be her last. Pressing at the head of her
troops through the narrow gateway where a vast
multitude of Danes barred the way, many of her
principal officers were struck down, and four of her
guards were slain by the hand of the Welsh king.
Gwynne, lord of Ely, and steward of Elfrida, per-
ceiving the danger of the princess, set the gates on
fire, and rushed furiously upon the Welsh and Danes,
who gave way before his onslaught.
Owen, unable to escape, preferred to fall by
his own hand than yield himself prisoner to a
woman.
Two years later, in 920, Efrilda recaptured Lei-
cester and York from the Danes; and besides
Female Warriors, 97
repairing the fortifications of the former city, en-
compassed it with a massive wall of such strength
that Matthew Paris styles it indissoluble.
Shortly after this, and before the war was over,
Elfleda died at Tamworth, in Staffordshire, leaving
an unmarried daughter named Elswina. She was
buried at Gloucester, in the porch of St. Peter's
monastery, a building erected at her own expense.
This heroine has been praised by all the old
historians for her prudence, courage, and talent for
governing. Ingulphus says that considering the
great actions of her life, the cities she built, the
castles she fortified, and the armies she raised,
Elfleda " might have been thought a man." She
was generally styled queen by the Mercians, who
regarded themselves as her subjects.
According to tradition it was the same wild
Vikings, the terror of our land, who founded the
mighty Russian empire ; and their successors, the
Grand Dukes and Czars, have ever since retained
that thirst for conquest which distinguished the
roving Normans. The Grand Duke Igor was one
of the first among the successors of Rurik who
caused the Russian standard to be feared by
surrounding states. After subduing most of the
neighbouring towns, his victorious career was
suddenly brought to a close in 945, during an expedi-
VOL. I. .7
98 Female Warriors.
tion against the Drevlians, by whom he was
surrounded, and put to the sword with all his troops.
Igor was succeeded by his son Sviatoslaf, the first
Christian sovereign of Russia. The prince being too
young to conduct the government, his mother, Olga,
undertook the regency. The Drevlians, fancying
the royal widow would be easily intimidated, sent to
demand her in marriage for their prince. But Olga,
after causing their ambassadors to be slain (by
various quaint stratagems which Nestor has
preserved) called out her troops, placed herself at
their head, and marched against the Drevlians,
taking her son with her to teach him the art of war.
After destroying all the towns and villages of the
enemy, she laid siege to Karosten, their capital,
which was built entirely of wood — the very name
signifying "wall of bark." Finding the city too
strong and too well defended, she made proposals of
peace to the inhabitants, declaring that she would be
satisfied with three sparrows and a pigeon from each
house, as tribute. The people joyfully complied,
and sent the birds to the Russian camp. Olga
caused the birds to be let loose, with lighted torches
tied to their tails ; they, of course, flew back to their
nests in the house-eaves of Karosten. The town was
soon in a blaze from end to end. The terrified
inhabitants, flying to escape the flames, were met
by the swords and lances of the Russians. The
Female Warriors. 99
Drevlian prince and his court perished in the mas-
sacre, as indeed, did nearly every one in the city,
save the dregs of the population.
Having glutted her thirst for revenge, Olga
made a progress through Russia, taking Sviatoslaf
with her. Towns and villages arose at her command,
taxation was regulated on a better footing ; and by
various measures highly beneficial to the prosperity
of the country, the Grand Duchess proved her-
self a most able ruler. In 955 she went to Coa-
stantinople to be baptised a Christian, and in the
course of a few years the Greek faith spread
through the land, and paganism was abolished.
When Sviatoslaf grew old enough to rule his
own dommions, Olga resigned the reins of govern-
ment. She lived in retirement for several years,
and died in 968 at an advanced age.
In the Middle Ages, chemistry and mathematics
were things known to few people except the monks ;
any man who studied the sciences was styled an
alchemist, and suspected of being in league with
the Evil One. When it was a woman who gave
herself up to learned studies, the people could
scarcely be withheld from tearing '^ the sorceress "
to pieces. Occasionally, however, despite what
the world said, noble ladies, especially on the
Continent, did apply their minds to what in those
7—2
lOO Female Warriors,
days went by the name of the Black Art. Amongst
these was Richilda, Countess of Hainault, who
married Baldwin the Good, eldest son of Baldwin,
Marquis of Flanders, one of whose daughters,
Matilda, became the wife of William the Conqueror,
and another of Tosti Godwinsson, son of the powerful
Earl Godwin. The fame of Richilda as a wicked
sorceress caused her to be anything but a favourite
in the country ; and when her husband died, Robert
le Prison, Count of Friesland, and brother of the
deceased, endeavoured to wrest Flanders from her
young son Arnulf, or Arnoul, who was little more
than a boy. William the Conqueror espoused the
cause of Richilda, and sent over Fitz-Osbern, Earl of
Hereford, the tyrant of the Welsh, to her aid. The
Countess also implored the assistance of her liege
lord, the king of France.
A battle took place on St. Peter's Day, 1071, at
Bavinchorum, near Cassel ; Richilda and Fitz-
Osbern commanded their troops in person. The
left wing of the foe was routed, and Robert le Prison
made prisoner and sent to St. Omer. But this
success was counterbalanced by the death of Fitz-
Osbern and young Arnoul. Richilda's forces fled
in confusion, and the heroine was made prisoner.
An exchange was effected, by which Richilda and
the Prison regained their liberty. The countess
immediately set about raising fresh troops to avenge
Female Warriors. lOl
the death of her boy. The contending armies met
again ; this time at Broqueroi, near Mons, where
the troops of Richilda were routed with so terrible a
slaughter that the scene of the conflict was after-
wards known under the name of *' the Hedges of
Death/' All hope now fled the breast of Richilda.
Escaping from the field, she took refuge in a convent,
where the rest of her days were passed under the
severest penances — to atone, as folks said, for her
past dealings with the Prince of Darkness.
VI.
The Crusades — French, German, and Genoese Amazons —
Eleonora of Aquitaine — Matilda of Boulogne — Empress Maud
— Aldrude, Countess of Bertinoro — Empress Constantia—
Nichola de Camville (Barons' Wars) — Blanche of Castille,
Queen-Regent of France— Women of Culm— Blanche de Rossi
. — Black Agnes, Countess of March — Countess de Montfort—
Julia du Guesclin — Jane de Belleville, Lady of Clisson — Marzia
— Margaret, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the
Semiramis of the North— Fair Maiden Lilliard (Chevy Chase)
— Lady Pelham — Philippa, Queen of Denmark.
|T would be difficult at the present day to
appreciate the wild enthusiasm spread
throughout Europe by the preaching of
Peter the Hermit. Thousands from all
classes — kings, princes, nobles, priests, peasants,
beggars, all alike impelled by the same blind
impulse, many amongst them scarcely knowing
where they were going or for what they went to
fight, — hastened to take up arms against the Infidel.
Female Warriors. 103
The enthusiasm was not, as it would probably in
our days, confined to one, nor even to three or four
nations. " There were men," says Robert of
Gloucester : —
" Of Normandy, of Denmark, of Norway, of Bretag^e,
Of Wales, and of Ireland, of Gascony, of Spain,
Of Provence, of Saxony, and of AUemayne,
Of Scotland, and of Greece, of Rome and Aquitaine."
Ay, and women too. The first Crusading armies
which set out in the spring of 1096, commanded by
Peter the Hermit, Gaultier-sans-Avoir, and other
leaders of less reputation, comprised nearly as many
women as men. Even where they did not contend
hand to hand with the Saracens, these heroines
cheered the warriors by marching with them in the
ranks, by carrying food and ammunition to the battle-
field, by speaking with enthusiasm of the cause for
which they had armed. It was, indeed, owing as
much to the courage and endurance of the women,
who suffered without a murmur the miseries of cold,
hunger, and want of clothing, as to their own indo-
mitable bravery that the Templars owed the capture
of Antioch. William of Tyre, speaking of the grand
review held before Nice in 1099, says that exclusive
of the cavalry, who, to the number of one hundred
thousand were well armed in helmets and mail,
there were found six hundred thousand Crusaders of
both sexes, many of them little children.
I04 Female Warriors.
When the second Crusade was preached, many
ladies, especially in France and Germany, formed
themselves into squadrons and regiments of Amazons,
and assumed the arms and armour of the Templars.
The commander of the German Amazons, who, says
Michaud, was more admired for her dress than her
courage, received the title of the " Golden Footed
Dame," or the " Lady with the Golden Legs,^' on
account of her magnificent gilded buskins and spurs.
She enrolled her troop under the banner of the
emperor Conrad, who started for the East 1147.
The French Amazons were commanded by their
queen, Eleonora of Aquitaine (afterwards wife of
Henry II. of England). Forming themselves into
a squadron of light cavalry, they went through a
regular course of military training, and, by constant
exercise, they acquired tolerable proficiency in the
use of arms.
Mezerai, speaking of these " squadrons of females,"
declares that by their valour they " rendered credible
all that hasbeen said of the prowess of the Amazons ;"
but, certes, those who followed King Louis to the
Holy Land rendered themselves more notable for
rashness and folly than manly courage. They set
out in the year 1147, with the bold determination to
share all the fatigues and brave all the dangers
incident to a crusade ; but their first essay in the
presence of the enemy proved sufficient to put an
Female Warriors. 105
end to their gallant resolutions and cover their
leader with ridicule. The corps of Amazons,
escorted by a band of sterner warriors commanded
by a distinguished knight, had been sent on in
advance, with strict orders from the king to encamp
on the heights of Laodicea, and there await his
arrival. They reached the spot as the sun was
setting, and the black, dreary rocks appeared to the
romantic, but inexperienced eye of Eleonora, an
exceedingly uninviting situation for a resting place.
With the haughty imperiousness of her nature, she
insisted on turning aside to a beautiful valley watered
by cool streams, and overshadowed by lofty palms,
where, despite the warnings and expostulations of
the brave captain who led her escort, she encamped.
In this charming but unprotected dale they were
soon attacked by a party of Saracens. King Louis
arrived barely in time to save the corps of Amazons
from capture. Compelled to hazard an engagement
under peculiarly disadvantageous circumstances
against an enemy who received reinforcements from
moment to moment, Louis was so near being made
prisoner as to be obliged to seek refuge in a tree.
The Christians were victorious, but it was with
heavy losses. Eleonora and her followers retired
to the court of her cousin Raymond, Prince of
Antioch, and there passed the rest of the season.
While the Crusades lasted, ladies continued to
io6 Female Warriors,
accompany husbands and lovers to the East. In the
arsenal of the palace at Genoa there are, or were
some few years since, several light cuirasses, made
for a band of Genoese ladies, who, towards the close
of the thirteenth century, wished to join in a
crusade against the Turks. However, by the en-
treaties of Pope Boniface VIII., who wrote an auto-
graph letter for the purpose, they were persuaded to
relinquish their design.
Pierre Gentien, an old French poet, who flourished
at the latter end of the thirteenth century, has left a
species of epic in rhyme, wherein he describes a
tournament held by certain noble dames who were
about departing with the knights beyond the seas.
In this poem the author, describing how the com-
batants, to acquire proficiency in the use of arms,
disputed the prize of valour with all the courage
and enthusiasm of the knights of those days, takes
the opportunity to name forty or fifty, the most
beautiful ladies of their time. His poem has been
therefore admired rather as being a memoir of
the old French families than for the excellence of the
poetry.
The somewhat ridiculous termination to her first
essay in presence of the foe did not entirely quench
the military ardour of Eleonora of Aquitaine. After
she had been for some years the wife of king Henry
Female Warriors. 107
II., she stirred up her sons, Richard and John, to
rebellion against their father ; and went so far as to
appear in masculine attire, at the head of their
forces in Aquitaine. And thus clad, she was made
prisoner.
When Prince Arthur was prosecuting his claims
on the English crown, Philip Augustus, the French
king, sent him with a military retinue into Normandy,
then in the hands of the English. The French
barons laid siege to Mirebeau, a fortified town near
Poitiers. It was defended for King John by Eleonora,
who, though she had then attained the age of four-
score, was as active as ever, and had onlyjust returned
from a journey into Spain — a matter of some difficulty
in those days. When the French had captured the
town, the veteran Amazon threw herself into a strong
tower which served as a sort of citadel ; and here
she held out bravely till the arrival of John with
reinforcements, on the night between July 31st and
August I, 1202 ; when the besiegers were compelled
to surrender.
During the wars between the Empress Maud and
Stephen, the latter was ably seconded by his queen,
Matilda of Boulogne. For the first five years of his
usurpation, the king was disturbed only by the revolt
of Baldwin, Earl of Exeter, and the invasion of
David, King of Scotland. Matilda showed herself to
io8 Female Warriors.
be an able politician and a brave soldier. In June,
1 137, she laid siege to Dover Castle, which had been
seized by the rebels, and, at the same time, sent
orders to her Boulogne subjects to blockade the for-
tress by sea.
In July, 1139, the empress, escorted by her brother
Robert, Earl of Gloucester, landed in England.
After several battles, of which little is known, she
defeated and captured King Stephen near Lincoln,
1 141. The empress was at once proclaimed queen
of England, and after sending Stephen in irons to
Bristol, she entered London. Matilda made humble
suit for the liberty of her lord, and offered, in his
name, to resign all claim to the crown ; but the
empress refused, save on the petitioner also sur-
rendering her inheritance of Boulogne. The queen
refused ; and with the assistance of William of
Ypres, Stephen's talented but unpopular minister,
she raised the standard of the king in Surrey and
Kent, where a large party were in favour of the royal
captive.
" In the pages of superficially-written histories/*
remarks Miss Strickland, " much is said of the
prowess and military skill displayed by frince
Eustace at this period ; but Eustace was scarcely
seven years old at the time when these efforts were
made for the deliverance of his royal sire ; therefore
it is plain to those who reflect on the evidence of
Female Warriors. 109
dates, that it was the high-minded and prudent queen,
his mother, who avoided all Amazonian display by
acting under the name of her son.''
The empress, being warned that the Londoners,
weary of her insolence, had a mind to serve her as
she had served Stephen, fled from the city by night,
and laid siege to Winchester Castle. The men of
London and Kent, headed by Matilda, Eustace, and
William of Ypres, were soon at the city gates, and
Maud was closely invested for several days in her
palace. To escape the horrors of a city in flames,
the empress feigned herself dead, and her body was
conveyed to Gloucester. Robert, her brother, was
made prisoner, and his liberty was purchased by the
release of Stephen.
From this time the fortunes of the empress rapidly
declined. She was so closely invested in Oxford
during the inclement Weather of 1142, that she was
compelled to dress herself and her attendants in
white, which, as the ground was covered with snow,
more readily escaped observation, and so steal away
from the town. The war continued to rage with the
utmost fury for the next five years ; but Maud, weary
at last of the miserable struggle, returned to Nor-
mandy in 1 147.
Queen Matilda died at Henningham Castle, in
Essex, on May 3rd, 1151, a little more than three
years before her husband. The empress out-
1 1 o Female Warriors.
lived both her rivals, and died abroad, September
loth, 1167.
The famous contest between the Guelfs and the
Ghibelines, which for nearly three hundred years de-
vastated Italy, broke out early in the twelfth century.
The struggle was at first hardly more than a feud
between two powerful families ; but it soon developed
into an obstinate war between two political parties —
the Guelfs, who formed the papal and Italian party,
and the Ghibelines, who favoured the German Em-
perors.
One of the leading events of this war was the siege
of Ancona, in 1172, by the Archbishop of Mentz,
Frederic Barbarossa's deputy in Italy, backed by all
the power of Ghibeline Tuscany. The citizens,
reduced to the direst extremities, applied for aid to
William degli Adelardi, a noble and influential citizen
of Ferrara, and to the Countess de Bertinoro.
Aldrude, the countess, who belonged to the illustrious
house of Frangipani, has been immortalized by the
Italian writers of those days, on account of her
personal beauty, her generosity, and the magnificence
of her court, which was the favourite resort of
Italian chivalry, poetry, and art. She was married
young to the Count de Bertinoro, who died, and left
her a widow in the bloom of youth.
The Countess and Adelardi, with their combined
Female Warriors. ill
forces, hastened to the relief of the beleaguered city,
near which they arrived at sunset. Having pitched
their camp on a hill overlooking the Ghibeline tents,
the soldiers were assembled, and harangued with
exciting speeches, which they received with loud
applause, mingled with the clashing of arms. How-
ever, they gained a bloodless victory. The besiegers,
alarmed at the strength of the foe, struck their tents,
and retired under cover of night.
The famished Anconians, relieved from the pre-
sence of the imperial army, received a fresh stock
of provisions. They came out to thank the countess
and her ally, and offered them magnificent
presents.
On her homeward march, the countess fell in
with a party of retreating Ghibelines. Numerous
skirmishes took place, in which the troops of
Aldrude were uniformly victorious.
The date of this heroine's death is unknown.
The designs of the Hohenstaufen on the throne
of Sicily drew their attention for a time from
Lombardy. Henry VI., who ascended the imperial
throne of Germany on the death of his father,
Frederick Barbarossa, established a claim on the
crown of the Two Sicilies in right of his wife, the
daughter of King Roger. Constantia became the
rightful queen of Sicily on the death of William the
112 Female Warriors.
GoodiniiSg; but the throne was usurped by Tan-
cred, her natural brother. Henry invaded the Neapo-
litan states in 1191 ; but though successful at first, a
terrible mortality in his camp compelled him to
raise the siege of Naples and retire from the
country.
After the death of Tancred, his widow resigned all
claim to the crown ; stipulating that her infant son,
William, should be left in possession of Tarentum,
But the cruel and perfidious emperor, who had
failed in all his attempts on Naples and Sicily during
the life-time of the king, cast the boy into prison,
after putting out his eyes, imprisoned the queen and
the princesses in a convent, and carried the royal
treasures to Germany.
When the emperor returned to his own land,
Naples and Sicily rose against his tyranny. Hasten-
ing back with a mighty army, Henry defeated the
rebels, and commanded that the leaders should
suffer the most excruciating tortures. Constantia,
shocked at his barbarity, quarrelled with her husband,
cast off her allegiance, and stirred up the Sicilians
to a fresh rebellion. Thousands flocked to her
standard, and the empress, at this time fifty years
old, led them against the German troops. Henry,
who had sent away most of his soldiers to the Holy
Land, was defeated, and compelled to submit to the
terms dictated by Constantia.
Female Warriors. 1 13
The emperor died at Messina in 1197, shortly
after the conclusion of the treaty, and his wife has
been accused of administering poison, to rid her
people of a cruel and vindictive tyrant. After his
death, Constantia lived peacefully in Sicily as regent
of the island and guardian of her infant son, the
Emperor Frederick II. She died three years later,
in the year 1200.
Returning to England, we find Dame Nichola de
Camville, a noted heroine of those days, personally
engaged on the royal side during the Barons' wars.
Nichola de Hara, widow of Gerard, Lord Camville
was co-sheriff for the county of Lincolnshire. She
held the Castle of Lincoln for King John against
Gilbert de Gaunt, who had captured the city ; and
after the death of John she defended it for his son,
Henry III. Shortly after the death of King John,
the Count de la Perche, a French knight command-
ing the Confederate Barons, marched to Lincoln at
the head of six hundred knights and twenty thousand
soldiers, and besieged the castle. It was defended
by Dame Nichola till the arrival of the Earl of
Pembroke in May, 1217, when the battle, afterwards
known as " Lincoln Fair/' quelled for a time the
rebellion of the English barons, and established
Henry III. on the throne.
VOL. I. - 8
114 Female Warriors.
Turn which way we will, we see nothing but civil
wars and struggles for supremacy between crowned
heads and nobles. Crossing to France, some nine or
ten years later, we find the great vassals of the
throne conspiring to deprive Queen Blanche of the
regency. However, Blanche of Castille was not a
woman easily intimidated. At the head of a large
army, she went with the young king (her son) to
Brittany, the seat of the conspiracy. The malcontent
nobles, not being prepared to meet the royal forces
in the field, submitted for a time.
In the following year, 1227, the royal troops
defeated and captured Raymond, Count of Toulouse,
leader of the Albigeois, and the queen treated her
noble captive so harshly that the French lords again
took up arms, led by the Duke of Brittany. Despite
the severity of the winter, the queen-regent and her
son marched into Brittany ; and after surmounting
terrible obstacles from the cold, and from the snow
and ice, which stopped both roads and rivers, laid
siege to the stronghold of Bellesme. This fortress
which from the thickness of its walls, was supposed
to be impregnable, had a garrison of Bretons,
supported by a body of English auxiliaries. The
besieged were in hopes that the royal army, horribly
decimated by the severe weather, would be compelled
soon to retire. But the queen was not the one to
yield when she had once resolved on anything. To
Female Warriors. 1 1 5
preserve her soldiers, hundreds of whom perished
from the bitter cold, she caused immense fires to be
kept constantly blazing, and offered high rewards to
all who brought wood into camp. To encourage the
men she slept in the open air by the bivouac fires,
conversed with the troops, and encouraged officers
and privates alike by her affability and con-
descension.
Queen Blanche pressed the siege with unyielding
determination. After two assaults had been made
the great tower was dismantled, and the garrison
surrendered. The Duke of Brittany was made
prisoner, though, through motives of policy, he was
speedily set at liberty. The queen next took
Nantes and Acenis ; and the revolt was brought to
a close in 1230 by the surrender of the Count de
Marche.
From the courage and military tact displayed by
the queen during the siege of Bellesmes, she
received the complimentary title of " the Great
Captain."
The regency of Blanche ended in 1235, and
Louis IX. took the government into his own hands ;
but she again took up the regency in 1248, when
her son set forth on his crusade. She died in 1252,
before St. Louis came home from his ill-starred
expedition.
So deep was the respect entertained for the
8-2
1 16 Female Warriors.
memory of Blanche of Castille, that many of the
queen-dowagers of France assumed the surname of
Blanche, as the Roman emperors took the title of
Augustus.
Until the thirteenth century, Prussia was in-
habited by heathen barbarians. In 1226, Conrad of
Masovia gave the Teutonic Knights a strip of land
on the Vistula, that they might protect Poland from
the Prussian savages. For more than half a century
the knights carried on a war of extermination
against the natives ; again and again were the
Prussian tribes vanquished, again and again they
relDelled. In 1240 a general insurrection of greater
magnitude burst forth, and nearly all the knights
were massacred. Those who escaped — principally
the Knights of the Cross — took refuge in the castles
of Thorn, Reden, and Culm, where they were soon
beleaguered by the Prussians. The knights in Culm
were induced by a stratagem to come out, when
they fell into an ambuscade, and were all slain.
The city would have fallen had not the women
closed the gates, clad themselves in mail, and
mounted the walls with spears in their hands.
The Prussians, deceived by this stratagem, with-
drew their forces, believing that Culm was still
strongly garrisoned by sturdy knights.
Prussia was at last converted to Christianity, and
adopted the manners and customs of Germany, of
which it is now the leading State.
Female Warriors. I17
The contests between the Guelfs and Ghibelines
proved fatal to Italian liberty. Might became right,
tyrants arose on every side, and either by open
force or by fraud, possessed themselves of the
sovereign power in some one of the Lombardian cities
and the adjacent territories. The various military
leaders, whether Italians or Germans, were mere
freebooters, accountable to no one for their acts,
permitting the utmost license to themselves and
their followers. One of the most infamous of
these mercenaries was Acciolin, who was not a
brutal and rapacious robber, but a man of refined
cruelty. His favourite mode of torture was to
fasten his prisoners to half-putrified corpses, and
leave the living and the dead to rot away together.
In 1253, this fiend in human shape captured
Bassano by storm, after a tiresome siege. The
garrison was commanded by John Baptista de
Porta, who was either governor or lord of the
place. Blanche de Rossi, his wife, a native of
Padua, put on armour, mounted the ramparts, and
fought by the side of her husband. When the town
fell the governor was slain, and Blanche, after
making a desperate resistance, was made prisoner
and led in triumph before Acciolin. Directly the
villain set eyes upon his beautiful captive, he was
seized with a violent passion for her ; and to escape
him, she sprang, clad as she was in armour, through
1 1 8 Female Warriors.
a. window. But in place of death, she only met
with a sprained shoulder. Directly she recovered
from her swoon the tyrant sent for her again, and
finding his renewed protestations were repulsed
with loathing, he obtained by force what was denied
to his prayers. Blanche then withdrew to the
place where her husband's body had been thrown,
and flinging herself into the open grave, was crushed
to death by the falling earth and stones.
In the year 1333, King Edward III., espousing
the cause of Edward Baliol, invaded Scotland. The
battle of Hallidon Hill, July 29th, in which the
Regent Douglas was defeated, placed Baliol on the
throne ; and Edward, carried away by his ambitious
designs upon the French throne, left his army in
charge of the Earls of Arundel and Salisbury, and
returned to England. Montague, Earl of Salisbury,
laid siege to the castle of Dunbar, a place of great
importance, esteemed as the key of Scotland, on
the south-east border. It had been fortified very
recently ; and in the absence of the Earl of March,
was defended by the countess, who, from the dark
colour of her complexion, was popularly styled
" Black Agnes." She was the daughter of Ran-
dolph, Earl of Moray, and inherited from her father
a fierce, intrepid spirit. During the five months'
siege she performed all the duties of a bold and
skilful commander, and the garrison had the utmost
Female Warriors. 119
confidence in her abilities. Constantly on the
ramparts, she derided the English with biting
sarcasms. When the battering-engines hurled
stones against the walls, she scornfully told one of
her female attendants to wipe off the dust with her
handkerchief.
The Earl of Salisbury knew well the kind of foe
he had to deal with. One day he was superintend-
ing the siege operations, when an arrow from the
castle whizzed past and struck a knight who stood
by, piercing through his chain-mail haubergeon,
and killing him on the spot.
** There comes one of my lady's tire-pins,"
exclaimed the Earl. " Agnes's love-shafts go
straight to the heart ! "
A monster called the *' sow/' a huge engine
covered with hides, somewhat resembling the
testudo of the Romans, was at last rolled to the
foot of the walls. When the countess saw this
ponderous machine coming, she cried in a loud,
mocking voice : —
" Montague, beware ! your sow shall soon cast
her pigs ! "
She quickly verified her words by hurling an
immense piece of rock upon the " sow," crushing
both it and its occupants to pieces.
Salisbury finding he could not succeed by fair
means, bribed the gate-keeper to leave the gates
I20 Female Warriors.
open on the following night. The porter disclosed
this to the countess, who directed him to keep to his
bargain and say nothing about it. The Earl, who
commanded the party that were to seize the castle,
rode through the darkness at the head of his soldiers,
found the gates open according to agreement, and
was about to enter, v/hen one of his men, John
Copeland, passed in front of him. The portcullis
was suddenly dropped; Copeland, mistaken for his
master, remained a prisoner. The Earl was saved
by his men, who dragged him back just in time.
Agnes, from a high turret, saw that the general had
escaped.
** Farewell, Montague ! " she cried. " I intended
that you should have supped with us to-night, and
assisted in defending the fortress against the
EngHsh."
Salisbury, despairing of being able to take the
place, either by treachery or by storm, turned the
siege into a blockade, closely investing the castle by
sea and land, and tried to starve the garrison out
into a surrender. Alexander Ramsay, hearing of
the extremities to which Black Agnes was reduced,
embarked with a party of forty resolute men, eluded
the vigilance of the English, and entered the castle,
under cover of night, by a postern next the sea.
Sallying out again, they attacked and dispersed the
advanced guard of the besiegers. Salisbury, dis-
Female Warriors, 12 1
heartened by so many reverses, withdrew his forces,
after having remained before Dunbar for nineteen
weeks.
About this time the duchy of Brittany was the
subject of contention between two rivals, John,
Count de Montfort, son of the late duke, and
Charles of Blois, who had married the duke's grand-
daughter. Philip de Valois, King of France, decided
the dispute in favour of Charles, and despatched a
large army to establish him in the capital. Edward
III., of England, at once declared for the Count de
Montfort, as an enemy to the house of Valois,
which he — King Edward — wished to drive from the
throne of France.
The count was betrayed into the hands of his
rival by some malcontent nobles. But Jane, the
brave countess, sustained his sinking fortunes
" with the courage of a man and the heart of a
lion." Directly the news of her husband's capture
arrived at Rennes, where she resided, the countess
assembled the citizens, showed them her infant son,
and entreated them not to desert the last male heir
of their ancient dukes. Her eloquence, beauty,
and courage produced a magical effect. The
people swore to defend her and her son to the last
extremity.
The countess next visited all the strongholds
throughout Brittany, and excited the people to resist
122 Female Warriors.
the French, and to adopt the requisite measures of
defence. Then, sending her boy to England, she
shut herself up in Hennebonne, and there awaited
the reinforcements promised by King Edward.
Charles of Blois entered Brittany, captured
Rennes, and despatched a force, commanded by
Prince Louis of Spain, to besiege Hennebonne.
The garrison, animated by the presence of the
valiant countess, made a resolute defence. Jane
herself performed prodigies of valour. Clad in
armour from head to foot, she stood foremost in the
breach, sustaining every attack of the foe with the
utmost sang f void, or ran from post to post, according
as the troops required encouragement or reinforce-
ment.
One day the besiegers, engaged in an attack on
the town, left their camp totally unprotected. The
countess, perceiving their neglect, sallied forth by a
postern-gate at the head of five hundred picked
men, set fire to the enemy's baggage and magazines,
and created such universal alarm that the besiegers
gave over their assault on the town to intercept her
return. Jane, seeing that her retreat was cut off
that way, galloped towards Arrai, where she arrived
in safety. In five days she returned, cut her way
through the camp of Charles, and re-entered the
town. By this time, however, the breaches in the
walls had grown so numerous that the place was
Female Warrior's. 1 23
deemed untenable. The bishop of Leon, despite
the entreaties, the prayers of Jane, resolved to
capitulate, and opened negotiations with the enemy.
Jane mounted the highest turret and turned her
eyes towards the sea, with a last hope of seeing
her deliverers. She descried some small specks far
away in the distance. Rushing down into the
street, she cried, with transports of joy : —
" Succours ! Succours ! The English succours !
No capitulation ! "
The English fleet soon entered the harbour, and
a small but valiant body of English, headed by the
chivalrous Sir Walter Manny, cast themselves into
the town. The negotiations were at once broken off,
and the besiegers, balked of their prey, renewed the
attack with more determined vigour than ever.
Sir Walter and his companions were at dinner
with the countess when a huge mass of stone
crashed through the roof of an adjoining house,
terrifying the ladies assembled in the castle hall.
Starting from his seat. Sir Walter vowed to destroy
the terrible engine which had thrown this missile.
In a few moments the English sallied forth, hewed
the monster catapult in pieces, burned the sow,
and threw the enemy's camp into confusion. The
foe, recovering from their first astonishment, tried
to surround the returning warriors ; but the English
knights stood their ground till the archers and men-
124 Female Warriors.
at-arms had re-crossed the ditch. Then driving
back their assailants they crossed the draw-bridge,
and were received with acclamations by the towns-
people, while the countess herself " came down
from the castle to meet them, and with a most
cheerful countenance kissed Sir Walter and all his
companions, one after another, like a noble and
valiant dame."
Prince Louis abandoned his camp the same
evening, and retired to that of Prince Charles before
the Castle of Arrai.
Charles, though unsuccessful in his attack on
Hennebonne, soon became master of nearly the
whole of Brittany. During the truce between
. England and France, the Countess de Montfort
came to London, and asked King Edward to grant
her further assistance. He commanded Robert of
Artois to return with her, accompanied by a strong
force, to Brittany. They encountered the French
fleet near Guernsey ; and during the engagement
Jane displayed her accustomed bravery. The con-
tending fleets were at last separated by a storm,
and the English sailed to Brittany, took Vannes
by storm, and massacred, not only the garrison,
but even the townspeople. The French soon re-
captured the town, when Robert of Artois was
slain.
Edward IIL landed in Brittany in 1345, with
Female Warriors. 125
twelve thousand men, but was not at first very
successful. In June he was obliged to conclude a
short truce with France, during which the Count de
Montfort was set at liberty ; but he died of a fever
on Sept. 20th, when his son John was proclaimed
duke. At the end of July, 1346, the English invaded
Normandy. The Countess de Montfort, assisted
by an English force under Sir Thomas Dagworth,
defeated Charles of Blois, who was made prisoner.
Charles was set free in May, 1360, when peace
was concluded between France and England. The
treaty, though it did not interfere with Brittany,
brought about an arrangement some months later,
by which the duchy was divided between the rival
claimants.
But Charles broke faith, and renewed hostilities
with the assistance of France. The struggle was at
last decided in favour of the Count de Montfort, by
the death of Charles and his son John, both of
whom were slain in the battle of Arrai, gained by
the English, September 20th, 1364, the same day
of the month on which his rival died.
The French heroine of this war was Julia du
Guesclin, sister of the great Constable. When the
English invaded Brittany to support the Count de
Montfort, Julia, who was living with her sisters in a
convent, was obliged to take refuge in the fortress of
Pontsorel, which was soon besieged by the English.
126 Female Warriors.
The garrison was small and the besiegers were
many, but Julia, with a courage worthy of her
brother Bertrand, persuaded the French not to
surrender. Clad in a coat of mail (one of her
brother's) she stood on the ramparts and hurled
back all who attempted to scale the walls. Ani-
mated by her courage, the French made so sturdy a
defence that the English were compelled to retire,
discomfited. Julia then commanded the garrison
to throw open the gates and pursue the foe. The
retreating army, confronted unexpectedly by a strong
force commanded by the Constable himself, who
was returning to Fontsorel, and surrounded on all
sides, were nearly all slain, while their commander
was made prisoner.
When the war was over, Julia returned to her
convent, where she passed the rest of her days.
Another heorine of this war was Jane de Belleville.
Her husband, Oliver, Lord of Clisson, was accused
of holding secret intelligence with the English ; and
in 1343 Philip de Valois, without waiting till the
evidence should be well substantiated, caused him
to be decapitated. The widow, burning for revenge,
sold her jewels, and with the proceeds equipped three
vessels. After sending her son, a lad of twelve, to
England, to ensure his safety, Jane cruised about
the coast of Normandy, attacking every French ship
Female Warriors. 127
which came in her way, and ravaging the country
for a mile or so inland. This female corsair was
frequently seen, with a sword in one hand and a
torch in the other, amidst the smoking ruins of a
castle, or the smouldering heaps of a destroyed
village, directing with inhuman exultation the
ferocious cruelties suggested by her thirst for
vengeance.
While King Edward and Philip de Valois were
devastating France in their contests for the crown,
the Romagna was the scene of a fierce struggle
between the Pope, the Visconti, and the various
nobles and cities of Italy. After having lost a great
part of his territories, Innocent II. reconquered the
States of the Church by means of the Cardinal
Legate Egidius Albornez. But the Papal governors
were so tyrannical that the nobles of the Romagna,
with few exceptions, fought desperately to maintain
their independence. Francesco d'Ordelaffi, lord of
Forli, was the last to give way. He was ably
seconded in his brave resistance by Marzia, his wife,
a member of the house of Ubaldini. While he was
defending Forli he entrusted the town of Cesena to
his wife -, and in the beginning of 1357 the husband
and wife separated. Marzia took up her station in
Cesena, with a garrison of two hundred knights and
an equal number of common soldiers. She was
128 Female Wai'riors.
accompanied by her son and daughter, and by
Sgariglino de Petragudula, the wise counsellor of
the Ordelaffi family.
The town was soon invested by a force ten times
as numerous as the garrison. At the end of April
some terrified burgesses opened the gates of the
lower town. But Marzia, recollecting the words of
her husband, who declared that unless the Pope
offered him honourable terms he would sustain a
siege in every one of his castles, that when they
were all taken he would defend Forli, the walls, the
streets, his own palace, even to the last tower of his
palace, before surrendering his rights, retreated
to the upper town with those soldiers and towns-
people who remained faithful. Sgariglino having
proved to be a traitor, she caused him to be exe-
cuted ; his reeking head was flung from the battle-
ments amongst the besiegers.
Marzia took upon herself all the duties of governor
and military commander. She wore her helmet and
cuirass day and night, and scarcely closed her eyes
at all. At last she was compelled to retire into the
citadel with four hundred soldiers and citizens who
swore to stand by her to the death. But the citadel,
undermined by the Papal engineers, almost hung in
the air. Marzia's father, permitted by the legate,
entered Cesena and besought her to surrender. Her
answer was firm and simple. Her husband gave
Female Warriors. 129
her a duty to perform, and she must obey im-
plicitly.
At last the people began to murmur. Mar^ia was
compelled to surrender. She conducted the nego-
tiations herself; and so skilfully did she manage,
that the Legate, afraid of driving her to despair,
consented that her soldiers should return home
unmolested, with their arms and accoutrements.
On the 2ist of June she opened the gate of the
citadel.
She had disdained to make terms for herself, so
the legate cast Marzia and her children into prison.
It is curious to note that there are now no remains
of Cesena to commemorate the heroic valour of
Marzia.
The illustrious northern heroine, Margaret, whose
military achievements gained for her the title oi
" Semiramis of the North," was daughter of Wal-
demar, King of Denmark, and was born at Copen-
hagen in 1353. On the death of her father, Margaret,
through her exceeding popularity with the people,
succeeded in placing Olaus, her son, on the throne.
Haquin, King of Norway, Margaret's husband, died
in 1380, and Olaus in 1387. The election of a
female sovereign was not yet authorised by custom ;
but Margaret's superior talents, her beauty, and her
profuse liberality prevailed, and she was chosen
VOL. I. 9
130 Female Warriors.
Queen of Denmark, and, soon after, she was elected
Queen of Norway.
By taking advantage of the internal dissensions in
the kingdom of Sweden, Margaret gained over a
faction of the nobility, who oifered her the crown.
She marched into Sweden with a large army, and
after a war of seven years defeated and cap-
tured King Albert at Falkoeping. She kept him
a prisoner seven years longer, at the expiration
of which he resigned all claim to the Swedish
crown.
To effect a permanent union of the three Scandi-
navian crowns, Queen Margaret concluded the famous
Union of Calmar, 1397. ^he restored tranquillity at
home, and was successful against all her enemies
abroad ; but her latter years were disturbed by the
ingratitude of Eric, whom she had chosen as her
successor. She died in 1412.
According to Border tradition, a Scottish maiden
named Lilliard fought at the battle of Otterburn
('* Chevy Chase ") on the 19th of August, 1388, and
displayed the same style of valour attributed to the
gallant Witherington, who fell in the same battle.
It is said that the following inscription was, till
within a few years ago, to be seen on her tomb-
stone : —
Female Warriors. 131
" Fair Maiden Lilliard lies under this stane,
Little was her stature, but great was her fame,
On the English lads she laid many thumps,
And when her legs were ofif, she fought upon her stumps."
One of the most faithful adherents of Henry
Bolingbroke in his days of adversity was Sir John
de Pelham, who had been squire to old John of
Gaunt. When Lancaster was banished by king
Richard, Pelham followed him abroad, leaving
Pevensey castle in charge of his wife, Lady Joan.
Sir John was one of the fifteen lances who dis-
embarked at Ravenspur, in July, 1399, with Henry ;
and on the 4th of the same month, while he was
sharing the fatigues and perils of what seemed then
a rash enterprise, the partizans of Richard IL laid
siege to Pevensey castle. Lady Joan, a noble and
spirited woman, took upon herself the conduct of the
defence, and directed all the efforts of the garrison
with such prudence and decision that the besiegers
were forced to retire.
When the Duke of Lancaster ascended the throne
as Henry IV., he remembered the services of his
faithful adherents. Sir John de Pelham was created
a Knight of the Bath, and appointed royal sword-
bearer, treasurer-at-war, and chief butler to the king.
The king further displayed his confidence in Sir
John by sending James L of Scotland as a prisoner
9—2
132 Female Warriors.
to Pevensey castle. The courage of Lady Joan was
also publicly recognised and applauded.
Eric, Margaret's successor on the Scandinavian
throne, proved to be a very inferior ruler to his
illustrious aunt. Nearly all his reign was taken up
with an inglorious war for the Duchy of Schleswig.
The quarrel was decided in favour of Denmark by
the Emperor Sigismund ; but the Count of Holstein
refused to accept the imperial decree, and the war
waxed fiercer everj'' day. The Hanseatic League,
whose fleet then ruled the Baltic, joined the alliance
against Denmark ; and in 1428 a powerful armament,
commanded by Count Gerard of Holstein, invested
Copenhagen. The city would doubtless have fallen
but for the courage of Eric's queen, Philippa, who
was the daughter of Henry IV. of England. Throw-
ing herself into the city, the queen, by her exhor-
tations and example, inspired the garrison with such
enthusiasm and patriotic fervour, that the foe were
compelled to retire discomfited.
Elated by her success, Philippa now resolved to
carry the war into the enemy's country. So, while
Eric was endeavouring to gather reinforcements of
men and money in Sweden, the queen, with a fleet
of seventy-five sail, invested Stralsund. But this
time fortune was against the heroine. The Danish
navy was almost entirely destroyed in a great sea-
Female Warriors. 133
fight. Eric, without reflecting that he had himself
suffered many a worse defeat, flew into a rage when
he heard of this disaster ; and carried away by his
blind fury, he even struck the queen. The high-
spirited Philippa, unable to forgive this brutality,
retired to a convent, where she died shortly after.
VII.
Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans— Margaret de Attendoli;
Sister of the great Sforza — Bona Lombardi and Onerata
Rodiana, Female Condottieri — Manilla (Turks in Europe) —
Margaret of Anjou — Jeanne Hachette — Dona Aldonza de
Castillo, and Dona Maria Sarmiento (Civil Wars in Castile) —
Isabel the Catholic — Caterina Sforza.
jS^^S^^iT the beginning of the fifteenth century
W^^ H' ^^^^^ dwelt in the little village of
ft^^jHl Domremy, on the banks of the Meuse,
Jacques d*Arc, or Dare, a peasant, and
Isabeau Romie, his wife. Though comparatively
poor, they had the respect of their neighbours as
being a hard-working, honest couple. They had
three sons and two daughters, all of whom were
bred, like their parents, to humble occupations.
Joan, Jeanne, or Jehanne was bom, according to
different writers, in 1402, 1410, or 1412. She was
Female Warriors. 135
exceedingly beautiful, with fine expressive features,
and jet black hair. She was about the middle
height, with a delicately moulded frame. Her
education was the same as that of most peasant-
girls, French or English, in those days — spinning,
sewing, and repeating her Paternoster and Ave
Maria. From her infancy Jeanne was employed
in various duties, the chief of which was driving
the cattle to and from pasture. She was of a
religious, imaginative dispostion, and as early as
her thirteenth year began to indulge those supersti-
tious reveries which afterwards made her famous.
Although her gentleness caused her to be universally
beloved, she shunned girls of her own age, and
took but little interest in the amusements of others.
While her young friends were playing under the
" Fairies' Tree " near the fountain of Domremy,
Jeanne was dancing and singing by herself in pious
fervour, or weaving garlands for the Holy Virgin in
the small chapel of Notre Dame de Bellemont.
The villagers of Domremy were, without
exception, staunch Royalists, while those of the
neighbouring hamlet were zealous Burgundians.
A very bitter hostility prevailed between the rival
parties. On one occasion a band of troopers invaded
Domremy and drove all the people from their homes.
The family of Jeanne found shelter for a few days
at an inn ; whence arose the mistake of the English
136 Female Warriors.
chroniclers, who state that the maiden was in early
life an innkeeper's servant.
For a quarter of a century, France had been torn
by civil war, and the death of Charles VI. in 1422
plunged the country into hopeless confusion and
anarchy. According to the Treaty of Troyes (con-
cluded in 1420), Henry VI. of England was pro-
claimed King of France, which his uncle, the Duke
of Bedford, governed as regent. Queen Isabella and
the Duke of Burgundy joined England ; and the
Dauphin, abandoned by his own mother, had a very
small party indeed. The English army was com-
manded by several brave and talented warriors —
the Earls of Salisbury, Somerset, Warwick, Suffolk,
Shrewsbury, Arundel, and many gallant knights.
The Dauphin, at the age 01 nineteen, was crowned
at Poitiers, as Charles VII. On the 12th of October,
1428, the Earl of Salisbury laid siege to Orleans,
the last stronghold of any importance held by the
Royalists. It was bravely defended by Glaucour,
Lahyre, and Dunois. Repeated messages were
sent to the king imploring assistance. The city was
naturally strong, and well-garrisoned, but the
English commenced an elaborate system of counter-
fortification, and cut off the supplies of the besieged.
Jeanne d'Arc watched with eager anxiety the siege
of Orleans. Even as a child she had learned to de-
test the English ; and now she felt herself commanded.
Female Warriors. 137
by frequent visions and supernatural admonitions, /
to undertake the deliverance of her king and country.
Believing firmly that Heaven destined her to save
France, she refused more than one advantageous /
offer of marriage. In February, 1429, being then,
according to the most reliable authorities, barely
eighteen, she was commanded by a vision of Our
Lady to raise the siege of Orleans, and afterwards
conduct Charles to Rheims to be crowned in state.
She presented" herself before Robert de Baudricourt,
governor of Vaucoulour, a town situated a few miles
from Domremy, and related her mission. Believing
her to be insane, the governor twice sent her away,
threatening the second time to box her ears ; but
when she returned a third time he thought it best
to send her with letters of recommendation to the
Dauphin, at Chinon, in Touraine.
The fame of Jeanne d'Arc preceded her; and
the king awaited with impatience the arrival of his
extraordinary visitor. Although Charles disguised
himself and mixed with his courtiers, Jeanne singled
him out at once, and addressed him as king of
France.
After being subjected to the most severe examina-
tion during three weeks, by divines, counsellors
of parliament and learned men, the king was satisfied
that her story was true, and consented to accept
her aid. She was furnished with a suit of armour,
138 Female Warriors.
and armed with a sword marked on the blade with
five crosses, taken by her directions from the tomb
of an old warrior in the church of St. Catherine at
Fierbois. In company with several nobles she was
sent to the camp at Blois, thirty-five miles from
Orleans. Her presence produced the most miracu-
lous effect upon the drooping spirits of the soldiers.
The French generals resolved now to make some
great effort for the relief of Orleans ; and ten
thousand men, commanded by St. Severre, Lahyre,
and the veteran Dunois were despatched to its aid.
Most of the soldiers retreated in dismay when they
saw the strong towers of the besiegers, but La
Pucelle, followed by a small party, forced her way
through the English camp, and entered Orleans on
the 29th of April, 1429. She was clad in armour
and mounted on a snow-white horse ; her head was
bare, and the long raven tresses, parted across her
forehead, were tied at the back with ribbon. In
her right hand she grasped a lance ; by her side hung
the consecrated sword and a small battle-axe.
On the 4th of May a sortie was made against the
English bastille of St. Loup, but the French were
driven back with great slaughter. Jeanne, hearing
the noise of the fight, mounted her horse and
galloped to the spot, when she rode into the midst
of the battle. The French, re-animated by her
presence, again charged the English, drove them
back, and captured the bastille.
Female Warriors. 139
After this first success the rest was comparatively
easy. On the 6th and 7th the remaining bastilles
on the south bank of the Loire were carried by
storm. The most important, that at the head of
the bridge, defended by Sir William Gladsdale with
five thousand picked men, yielded after an attack of
fourteen hours. During the attack on this tower,
Jeanne^ having placed a ladder against the walls, was
attempting to scale the battlements, when she was
struck in the neck by an arrow. She plucked out
the weapon immediately, but the loss of blood
compelled her to leave the field. However, when
she heard that her absence dispirited the soldiers,
she insisted upon returning to the scene of action.
The Earl of Salisbury died during the siege ; and
the Earl of Suffolk, who succeeded to the command,
raised the siege on the 8th of May, and beat a hasty
retreat.
Jeanne d'Arc, the ** Heaven-sent Maid," had now
fully entered upon her extraordinary career of
victor}'. The universal belief in her elevated
mission — as much amongst the English as the
French — produced marvellous results. Resolute
and chivalrous, pious and gentle, she won the hearts
of all, — even the roughest and most sceptical
veterans. However, it was only in matters of moral
discipline that she was implicitly obeyed ; oaths or
foul language were severely censured when they
140 Female Warriors^
reached her ears. She compelled the entire army,
^ generals and soldiers alike, to attend regularly at
confession ; and at every halt she ordered an altar
to be established and the Holy Sacrament admini-
stered. But the generals, while they skilfully
employed her to animate the soldiers, did not
implicitly follow her counsels in military matters.
Her tactics were very simple. " I used,^' she
said, " to say to them * go boldly in among the
English,' and then I used to go boldly in myself.''
Her duties were chiefly confined to bearing at the
head of the army the consecrated sword and the
sacred banner — the latter made of white satin,
semee with fleurs-de-lis, with the words " Jesus
Maria," and a representation of Our Saviour in his
glory embroidered on its surface. Her conduct was
never stained by unfeminine cruelty. It appears
from the documents relative to her trial, that,
although she was herself wounded many a time,
she never shed the blood of anyone. Some French
historians, however, aver that she did sometimes,
when hard pressed, use the consecrated sword as a
weapon of offence.
When the Earl of Suffolk retired from before
Orleans he established his head-quarters at Mehun-
sur-Loire, and afterwards at Jargeau. Jeanne
hastened to Tours, where Charles was residing with
his court, and urged him at once to go to Rheims to
Female Warriors. 141
be crowned. The royal advisers, however, were
afraid to venture on such a step when Rheims itself,
together with all the intermediate towns, was still
held by the English. The French next attacked
the towns in possession of the English on the banks
of the Loire. During the assault on Jargeau, which
was taken by storm, La Pucelle, leading on the
French, was seen on the highest step of one of the
scaling-ladders, waving her banner over her head.
A stone from the English engines struck her so
violent a blow on the head, that her helmet was
shattered, and she fell heavily to the foot of the
wall. Rising on the instant, she cried : —
" Amis, amis ! sus, sus ! Notre Seigneur a con-
damne les Anglais. lis sont a nous. Bon courage ! "
The Earl of Suffolk was made prisoner during the
assault.
Beaugency and Mehun capitulated shortly after
the fall of Jargeau; and the English, commanded
by Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, the '^ English
Achilles,^' retreated towards Paris. They were pursued
and overtaken in April, 1429, at Patai, by the Maid
of Orleans. Sir John Fastolfe, one of the bravest
knights of his day (whatever Shakespeare may de-
clare to the contrary), advised Talbot to continue his
retreat with all speed; but the Earl scorned to fly
before his enemies, even though, as on this occasion,
they were twice as numerous as his own men. The
142 Female Warriors,
English, struck with a superstitious dread of La
Pucelle, fled, after making little resistance ; and
Talbot, after losing twelve hundred men, was
captured. Eight hundred English were slain in the
pursuit. Sir John Fastolfe, with a prudence long
stigmatised as rank cowardice, continued his retreat
to Paris, where he arrived safely without the loss of
a man.
Jeanne now insisted that the royal coronation
should be no longer delayed. Every obstacle vanished
at her approach. Troyes, Chalons, and other cities
in rapid succession opened their gates ; the people
of Rheims expelled the English garrison^ and Charles
entered in triumph, July i6th, 1429. The con-
, secration took place next day in the cathedral. The
Maid stood by the side of Charles, clad in armour ;
and, taking the office of High Constable, held the
sword over the king's head.
Her mission being now concluded, Jeanne d'Arc
entreated the king's permission to ** return to her
father and mother, to keep her flocks and herds as
before, and do all things as she was wont to do ; "
but her presence was considered so necessary to
animate the troops, that she was prevailed upon to
stay. In September, Jeanne was wounded in an
unsuccessful attack on Paris, when she requested, a
second time, to be allowed to retire from the war.
But she was again overruled. In December, a
Female Warriors. 143
patent of nobility was conferred upon her ; she was
first styled Dalis, then Dulis, and finally Dy Lys.
Her coat of arms contained two golden lilies and
a sword, pointing upwards, bearing a crown. She
obtained for the villages of Domremy and Greux an
exemption from taxation, which they enjoyed until
the equalisation of public imposts in 1789.
In the spring of 1429, the Duke of Burgundy
besieged Compiegne. Jeanne d'Arc threw herself into
the town on the 21st of May. Believing that her
presence now would work the same miracles as of old,
she insisted, the evening of her arrival, that the
garrison should make a sortie. After some hard
fighting the French took to flight. Jeanne took the
command of the rear-guard, and tried to rally her
countrymen. A Burgundian archer pulled her from
her horse ; and while lying on the ground she was
obliged to surrender to Lyonnel, the Bastard of
Vendome. There is good reason for supposing that
Guillaume de Flavy, governorof the fortress, envious
of her military renown, betrayed Jeanne into the
hands of her enemies.
The English purchased Jeanne from the Duke of
Burgundy for ten thousand livres ; and Henry VI.
also settled an annuity of three hundred francs upon
her captor. Through many weary months the Maid
of Orleans dragged out a miserable existence in a
dungeon. In place of being treated as a prisoner of
144 Female Warriors,
war, she was handed over to ecclesiastical justice,
charged with heresy and blasphemy. At the insti-
gation of several Frenchmen a process was instituted
by the Bishop of Beauvais, in whose diocese she
had been captured. The process lasted three months
and had sixteen sittings. Jeanne denied resolutely
the accusations of sorcery and witchcraft, and named
St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine as the
bearers of the heavenly messages.
The Bishop's Court, representing the Church and
the University of Paris, condemned Jeanne d'Arc
as a sorceress and a heretic. Charles VII. made
little or no efforts to save her ; and after four
months' imprisonment, the innocent enthusiast was
sentenced to be burned alive at Rouen. She was
cut off from the Church, and delivered to the secular
judges.
On the 24th of May, 1431, she was carried to the
stake, which had been erected in the Vieux Marche of
Rouen. At sight of the pile her courage deserted her.
She submitted to the Church, and confessed that her
visions were the work of Satan. Her punishment
was commuted to imprisonment for life, but it was
not considered expedient to let her live ; so she was
condemned as a relapsed heretic, and dragged to the
stake. May 30th. She was dressed in female attire ;
and on her head was a mitre, covered with the words
"Apostate," "Relapse," " Idolatre," " Heretique."
Female Warriors, 145
She met her fate this tirae with terrible calmness.
While they were putting the cap on her head, she
said to one of the Dominican friars who stood by
her side : —
'■'■ Maitre, par la grace de Dieu, je serai ce soir en
paradis.'^
Falling on her knees, she prayed fervently for a
few moments, not for herself only, but for the un-
grateful king who had so cruelly deserted her. The
judges, even the stern Bishop of Beauvais, were
moved to tears. She was burned by a slow fire, and
the pile was so high that her agony lasted for a con-
siderable time. Her ashes were gathered together
and flung into the Seine.
There is a legend that, as she expired, a white,
dove rose from the flames. Another tradition says
that after her ashes were removed, the heart was
found entire.
The Rouen theatre now occupies that part of the
public square on which the stake was erected. It
was remarked as a curious coincidence that when
Soumet's tragedy of " Jeanne d'Arc '' was performed
at Rouen, in the autumn of 1865, the last act, which
represents the death of the Maid, was played on the
identical spot where the real tragedy had been
enacted in 1431.
Jeanne's father died of grief at her cruel fate ; her
mother survived for many years, supported by a
VOL. I. 10
146 Female Warriors.
pension from the city of Orleans. In 1436 an
impostor started up, who pretended to be the Maid
of Orleans, giving a plausible account of her escape.
She was for sometime successful, being acknow-
ledged, even by the brothers, as the heroine herself.
Within the last few years this idea of Jeanne's
escape has been revived. Many French writers
assert that there is ample documentary evidence to
prove that the Maid of Orleans lived to be comfort-
ably married, while another girl took her place at
the stake. This notion is gaining ground, both in
France and England.
Among all the divines who condemned Jeanne,
there was only one Englishman — the Bishop of
Winchester, Cardinal Beaufort.
In 1450 and 1451 measures were taken to revise
the process of condemnation. In 1456 a court,
presided over by the Archbishop of Rheims and the
Bishops of Paris and Coutance, decided that Jeanne
d'Arc was entirely innocent, and declared her to have
been falsely condemned.
The citizens of Orleans celebrate the annual
Festival of Jeanne d'Arc on the 8th of May; the
villagers of Domremy hold an annual fete on the 6th
of January, the birth-day of the heroine. It is said
that the girls of the village have so much military
esprit that they will hardly deign to look upon a
lover who has not served some years in the wars.
Feinale Warriors. 147
The memory of Jeanne d'Arc has been preserved
in France by several monuments. Louis XI. erected
a figure of the heroine in front of her father's house ;
and in September, 1820, another memorial vi^as raised
in Domremy, with Jeanne's bust carved in marble.
In the market-place of Rouen stands another figure of
the Maid. In front of the Mairie of Orleans is a
statue, modelled by the Princess Marie, daughter of the
Citizen King. In April, 1855, a colossal equestrian
figure was uncovered in one of the public squares of
Orleans, on the exact spot where she animated
the French soldiers to attack the foe. It was
remarked as a sign of the times that not only the
English flag, but also the Turkish crescent stood
out prominently from amongst the numberless
standards which surrounded the monument.
It has lately been proposed by the Bishop of
Orleans, the Cardinal Archbishop of Rouen, and
others, to add Jeanne d'Arc to the calendar of
French saints. Shakespeare may thus prove once
more a prophet; he has put into the mouth of
King Charles, the words : —
"No longer on Saint Denis will we cry,
But Joan la Pucelle shall be France's saint."
During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Italy
was terribly harassed by bands of mercenary soldiers,
10—2
148 Female Warriors.
who sought service in every war, and fought neither
through patriotism nor for the love of glory, but
merely for pay and the opportunity of plunder. These
bands, who counted their numbers by hundreds or
thousands, according to the reputation of the Con-
dottiere (leader) under whom they fought, offered
their services to the prince or city that paid them
best, without regard to law or justice. Many of the
Condottieri, such as the Count of Werner, Montreal,
Bracchia de Montone, and Francesco Sforza, became
famous throughout Italy, not only as able generals,
but sometimes even as skilful statesmen ; yet, mostly
they were ignorant, brutal men, with nothing to
recommend them beyond reckless bravery.
Sforza had a sister named Margaret de Attendoli,
who shared his warlike spirit and enterprising cour-
age. The family was of humble origin, but through
the military genius of Francesco it rose, by rapid
strides, to the highest rank and eminence. Before he
assumed the sovereignty of Milan, Sforza was grand-
constable of Naples ; and in this capacity he was
sent to meet the Count de la Marche, the betrothed
husband of the Neapolitan queen. The count,
dreading the power of Sforza, caused him to be cast
into prison, with many of his relations. Sforza's
sister was at Tricario with her husband, Michael de
Cotignola, when the intelligence of Francesco's arrest
reached her. The relatives speedily assembled an
Female Warriors. 149
army, Margaret took the command, and a revolt
began. According as the Count de la Marche grew
more brutal towards his queen and more despotic to
her subjects, the insurrection became moie general;
and at last Count Jaques was besieged in his castle.
The besiegers demanded that Sforza should be set at
liberty, and that the count should be content with
the title of lieutenant-general of the kingdom ; but he,
knowing the value of his prisoner as a hostage, sent
threatening messages to Margaret, demanding that
Tricario should be given up, unless she would wish
to be the cause of her brother's death. Margaret,
indignant at the proposal, took the bold step of
imprisoning the deputies, whose families, alarmed for
their safety, importuned the count night and day,
till he consented to set Sforza at liberty, and rein-
state him in all his honours.
Female Condottieri were by no means uncommon
in those days ; and some of the women acquired
celebrity, even beyond the Italian borders, for their
prowess and military skill. The story of one of these
female soldiers is interesting.
About the year 1432, Captain Brunoro, a Parmesan
gentleman by birth, and a Condottiere by profession,
was appointed by Piccinio, the Milanese general
(who had just driven the Venetians from Vatellina),
to maintain a camp in Morbego, as a central position
150 Female Warriors.
whence he could command the conquered territory.
While thus employed, he occupied his leisure time
with hunting, and various open air amusements.
One day, being tired, he stopped to rest in a sylvan
grove, where some peasants were celebrating a rustic
festival. Doubtless there were many pretty faces
there ; but one amongst them struck him more than
all the rest. He entered into conversation with this
pretty girl, who charmed and surprised him by her
lively, spirited answers.
On his return home he learned that the pretty
peasant was quite a celebrity in the neighbourhood.
Her name was Bona Lombardi (or, as some give it,
Longobarba), and she was born in 1417, in the little
village of Sacco, in Vatellina. She was the only
daughter of humble people, of whom little is known
except that her father, Gabriel Lombardi, was a
private soldier in one of the Italian armies, and died
while Bona was a child. Her mother did not long
survive ; and the little girl was left to the care of her
uncle, a poor priest, and her aunt, an industrious
countrywoman.
Captain Brunoro remained in Morbego during the
summer, and had thus frequent opportunities for
meeting with Bona Lombardi. At last he decided
that she was the woman of all others to make him
happy, and they were married. The marriage was
kept secret for some time ; but to avoid even a
Female Warriors. 151
temporary separation. Bona dressed herself in the
costume of a Condottiere, and accompanied her
husband in all his expeditions.
Like all Condottieri Brunoro was obliged to adopt
various masters ; and thus he very often found him-
self opposed to one of his former employers. Once
he made an enemy of Alexander, King of Naples,
who took him prisoner by means of an ambuscade,
and cast him into prison. He would probably have
ended his days in a Neapolitan dungeon, but for the
untiring efforts of his wife. Money, entreaties,
threats, all were employed ; till at last she procured
his release.
Bona learned the art of war to perfection. Her
courage and military skill were so highly esteemed
by the Venetians that they confided to her and her
husband the defence of Negropont, against the
Turks, who in those days were dreaded by the
Christians as much as the Goths and Vandals were
in ancient times. More than once she displayed
valour and prudence of a superior order. During
the Milanese war, the Venetians having been re-
pulsed in an attack upon the Castle of Provoze, in
Brescia, Brunoro was captured. Bona arrived soon
after with a small body of fresh troops. Rallying
the discomfited Venetians, she led them in person to
a second assault on the castle. This time they were
successful, and Bona had the pleasure of releasing
her husband with the rest of the prisoners.
152 Female Warriors.
Brunoro died in 1468, and Bona Lombardi, declar-
ing that she could not survive her husband, built a
tomb for the reception of their mutual remains.
When it was finished, she sank into a state of
languor, from which she never recovered.
Onerata Rodiana, another female Condottieri,
was, in addition, a celebrated painter. She was
born, in the early part of the fifteenth century, at
Castelleone, and while yet a girl her reputation
as a painter became so great that the Marquis
Gabrinio, tyrant of Cremona, engaged her to decorate
his palace.
One day, while thus occupied, a dissipated courtier,
who happened to see her painting the walls of a room,
attempted to take liberties. A struggle ensued,
which was terminated by Onerata drawing a stiletto
and stabbing her antagonist. She then fled from
the palace, disguised herself in male attire, and
quitted the city. Meeting with the band of Oldrado
Sampuynano, the Condottiere, she enlisted under
his banner.
The marquis was furious when he discovered the
flight of his court-painter, and he despatched soldiers
in pursuit. Soon relenting, however, he issued a
proclamation, in which he promised full pardon on
condition that Onerata would return to her profes-
sional labours. But she preferred the life of a soldier.
JFemale Warriors. 153
so she remained with her new comrades. By her
courage she soon rose to the post of captain ; and
for thirty years she led the roving life of a free-lance,
painting and fighting alternately. When Castelleone,
her native town, was besieged by the Venetians in
1472, she hastened with her band to its assistance.
She was victorious ; but during the action she fell,
mortally wounded.
In those days the Grecian isles were a constant
subject of contention between Venice and the Turks.
The latter, growing stronger every day, soon made
their name the terror of southern Europe. A few
years after the fall of Constantinople (captured by
Mohammed 11. in 1453), the Ottomans besieged
Coccino, capital of the isle of Lemnos, in the ^Egean
Sea. The city was defended with the most obstinate
bravery by the inhabitants, men and women.
Amongst the bravest of the women was Marulla, a
beautiful, noble-looking creature, barely in her
twentieth year. Her father, Demetrius, slew such
numbers of the Turks that the gateway was half-
blocked up with turbaned corpses. At last, pierced
with myriad wounds, he fell on the bodies of his
foes. Marulla, flying to her father's rescue, was
wounded by the same blow which proved fatal to
him ; but so far from giving way to useless lamenta-
tions, she seized his sword, sprang from the walls.
154 Female Warriors.
and fiercely attacked the Turks. Her fellow-citizens,
inspired by her fire, drove the Turks away with
terrific slaughter, and compelled them to take refuge
in their ships.
When the Venetian admiral arrived next day with
the fleet, in place of a beleagured town he beheld
the citizens in their holiday attire, headed by the
magistrates in their robes of state, marching in
procession to meet him, conducting the heroine
Marulla, their deliverer.
To reward her bravery, the Venetian commander
ordered each of his soldiers to give her a present,
and he promised that she should be adopted by the
Republic. He offered her the hand of any one of his
captains that she might prefer. But Marulla replied
that "it was not by chance that she should choose
a husband ; for the virtues of a camp would not
make a good master of a family; and the hazard
would be too great.''
When the Venetian senate received the news of
Marulla's bravery, they decreed that various privi-
leges and exemptions from taxes should be settled
upon her and her children for evermore.
Henry VI., after losing the crown of France
through a female warrior, very nearly saved the
crown of England though another; and, what is
more remarkable, both were Frenchwomen. But the
Female Warriors. 155
high-spirited, fierce Margaret of Anjou, though fully
as brave, was very different from the peaceful, the
angelic Maid of Orleans. However, had the king
possessed half the spirit of his wife, the Wars of the
Roses might have terminated very differently. When
the feeble, almost imbecile king, wishing for peace
at any price, publicly acknowledged the Duke of
York as heir-apparent to the throne, Margaret re-
fused her consent, and the war was renewed. Henry
was made prisoner in the battle of Northampton ;
but the queen assembled a formidable army at York,
where she awaited her rival.
On the last day of the year 1460, the battle of
Wakefield was fought. Within half-an-hour of the
onset, nearly three thousand Yorkists lay dead on
the field. This battle, in which Margaret is said
to have taken an active part, terminated in a com-
plete victory for the House of Lancaster. The Duke
of York, covered with wounds, fell into the hands of
the victors. His dying moments were embittered by
the taunts of his captors ; and afterwards, it is said,
his head was cut off by order of the queen, crowned
with a paper crown, and placed on one of the gates
of York.
The next year, 1461, Margaret defeated the Earl
of Warwick in the second battle of St. Alban^s, and
recovered the king, who was now merely a passive
agent in the hands of friends or foes. She advanced
156 Female Warriors,
to London ; but Edward, Earl of March, son of the
Duke of York, having gained a victory at Hereford
almost the same day as the battle of St. Alban's,
obliged her to retreat towards the north. He then
entered London, where a few days later, March
4th, 1461, he was proclaimed King of England, as
Edward IV.
Margaret soon increased her army to sixty thousand
men, and Edward was obliged to hasten to the north.
At Pontefract he passed in review nearly forty-nine
thousand men. The armies met at Towton, in
Yorkshire, March 29th, 1461. This was the bloodiest
battle fought during the war. No quarter was given
or expected on either side. The Lancastrians, routed
with fearful slaughter, were intercepted in their flight
by the river; and the pursuit of the Yorkists was
unrelenting. The slain amounted to thirty or forty
thousand. Henry VL and his brave queen fled to
Scotland.
After vainly soliciting aid from the Scottish court,
Margaret went over to France, and by promising to
give up Calais, obtained ten thousand men. With
these she landed in Scotland, where she was speedily
joined by many of her partisans, and also by a band
of freebooters. With these she entered England,
and advanced to Hexham, where she was totally de-
feated. May 15th, 1464, by Lord Neville.
The unhappy queen, compelled to fly with her
Female Warriors. 157
son, with difficulty reached the coast, after suffering
indignities at the hands of the wild freebooters who
infested the kingdom, and sailed for Flanders. The
rebellion of Warwick the King-Maker, in 1470, re-
stored Henry VI., for a few short months, to the
throne. Edward IV. fled to the Continent ; Mar-
garet and her son landed at Weymouth on the very
day (April 14th, 1471) that the Earl of Warwick was
defeated at Barnet.
When Margaret heard the news of her champion's
defeat her courage seemed at first to forsake her.
She took refuge with her son in the sanctuary of
Beaulieu, in Hampshire. But her undaunted spirit
once more led her to the field. She re-assembled her
partisans and marched to Tewkesbury, where she
was encountered by King Edward on the 4th of May,
1471. The total defeat of the Lancastrians was the
result, and Margaret, with her son, was made
prisoner. The latter was cruelly murdered, and
Margaret was placed in the Tower of London.
After remaining a prisoner for nearly four years.
Queen Margaret was ransomed by Louis XI. for
fifty thousand crowns. She died in 1482, " the most
unfortunate Queen, wife, and mother,'^ says Voltaire,
"in Europe."
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, one of the
greatest warriors of the Middle Ages, was brother-
158 Female Warriors.
in-law to Edward IV., whom he assisted, in 1471,
with men and arms ; the English King promising, in
return, to aid Charles against his great enemy, Louis
XI. The French King was terribly afraid of the
Duke ; and had not the latter been so rash and the
former so crafty. King Louis might have lost his
crown. In 1472 Charles crossed the Somme at
the head of eighty thousand men, and after captur-
ing Nesle, where he massacred the people and
burned the town, he laid siege, in June, to the town
of Beauvais, in Picardy. The inhabitants were de-
voted to Louis XL, and, besides, they knew from
the fate of Nesle, where the blood flowed " ankle-
deep " in the street, what they might expect in the
event of capture. So the defence was as stout as
the attack was fierce.
There dwelt in Beauvais a girl named Jeanne
Fourquet, born November 14th, 1454, the daughter
of an officer in the king's guards. She was adopted,
after her father's death, by a lady named Laisne.
From childhood Jeanne had taken a great interest
in tales of warlike valour ; she always revered Jeanne
d'Arc as a saint. She now displayed her military
tendencies in such a way as to save her native town
and immortalise her name. Arming herself with a
hachette, or small axe, she placed herself at the head
of a band of women, and led them to the ramparts,
where they occupied themselves loading the cannon,
Female Warriors. 159
pouring hot water, boiling oil, or molten lead on the
heads of the besiegers, supplying the archers with
arrows, or performing any other service their strength
would allow.
The Burgundians at last planted their ladders,
and commenced scaling the ramparts ; but the first
man who planted the flag of Charles was hurled
from the battlements by Jeanne Fourquet, who
snatched the standard from his hands, and waved
it over her head. This deed so animated the de-
fenders of Beauvais, that they gallantly repulsed
every assault. After a fierce contest of nine hours,
the besieged were reinforced by the garrison of
Noyen, and on the two following days by troops
and provisions from Amiens, Genlis, and Paris.
Charles battered the walls with heavy guns for
nearly a month, and almost destroyed the town with
fire-balls. Finding his troops still held at bay, he
ordered a general assault on the loth July, at seven
in the morning. The attack was fierce, but the
defence was resolute. The women, still led by
Jeanne, displayed the same courage as before.
Thrice the Burgundians scaled the walls, and
planted their flag on the battlements ; thrice they
were repulsed with terrible losses. After the assault
had lasted four hours, the Burgundians saw their
efforts were fruitless, and sounded a retreat. During
the night of the 22nd they broke up their camp, and
marched away towards Normandy.
i6o Female Warriors.
Jeanne Fourquet deposited the flag she had taken
in one of the churches of Beauvais — doubtless that
of the Jacobins, where it was preserved for many
years. It may now be seen at the Hotel de Ville.
Louis XL granted to her the privilege of bearing this
standard at the head of the French army. Some
years after this great event, Jeanne married Collin
Pillon, when, not only was she herself exempted
from taxation, but the same immunity was granted
to her descendants.
It is neither by the name of Fourquet nor Pillon
that the heroine is famous. The weapon with which
she was armed gave her a more illustrious surname ;
and since that valiant deed, for which her country-
men must ever remember her with gratitude, she
has been known as Jeanne Hachette.
Her portrait may still be seen at Beauvais ; and
in commemoration of her bravery, the anniversary
of July loth is celebrated by an annual procession,
in which the women march before the men.
Napoleon III., when President of the French Re-
public, inaugurated a statue of Jeanne Hachette at
Beauvais.
During the civil wars which agitated Castile to-
wards the close of the century, the fortress of Toro
was, by a curious coincidence, twice defended by
female commanders, the wives of two brothers
Female Warnors. i6i
opposed to one another in politics. In 1475 it was
held for Isabel the Catholic by Doiia Aldonza de
Castillo, wife of the Alcayde, Don Rodrigo de Ulloa,
governor of the fortress. After the retreat of Fer-
dinand, husband of Isabel, she was compelled to
surrender. In the following year the fortress was
defended against the troops of Ferdinand and Isabel
by Doiia Maria Sarmiento, wife of Don Juan de Ulloa.
All hopes of assistance having been dispelled, she
obtained honourable terms of capitulation.
The same year, 1476, Isabel the Catholic having
received intelligence that the Portuguese meditated
invading her dominions, resolved to superintend
in person the defence of the frontiers. Despite the
remonstrances of her council, she set out for Estra-
madura in the summer of 1477, and, after capturing
several fortresses, and placing strong garrisons in
Badajoz, Ciudad Rodrigo, and other frontier towns,
established her head-quarters at Seville.
Queen Isabel again displayed her wish to be a
warrior during the contest between Ferdinand and
the Moors. In 1487 and 1489 she encouraged the
Spanish soldiers by her presence in the camp. In
1491 Ferdinand commenced the siege of Granada.
Isabel arrived towards the close of May. Attired in
a magnificent suit of armour, and mounted on a richly
VOL. I. II
1 62 Female Warriors.
caparisoned horse, she rode through the ranks, greeted
on all sides with joyful acclamations.
Wishing to obtain a nearer view of the renowned
red towers of the Alhambra, the queen rode forward
on the i8th June, escorted by the entire Spanish
cavalry, to the village of La Zubia, situated at a
short distance from Granada. But her curiosity
was very near being the cause of her capture. A
large body of Moorish troops sallied out from
Granada and attacked the body-guard of the queen.
Matters were growing serious, when the Marquis
de Cadix came to the rescue with twelve hundred
lances, and put the Moors to flight.
During the conflict Isabel did not display exactly
the courage of a heroine. Struck with abject terror,
she remained on her knees all the time, praying
earnestly ; and made a vow that if she escaped she
would erect a monastery on the spot.
Most of the great Sforza's immediate descendants
were more or less distinguished for military talents.
Caterina, or Catherine, the natural daughter of
Galeas Sforza, was remarkable for valour, military
skill, and also for her personal beauty. She was the
wife of Jerome Ricario, Prince of Forli ; and some
time after their marriage he was assassinated by
Francis Del Orsa, who had revolted against him.
Caterina and her children fell into the hands of
Female Warriors. 163
the assassin, but she soon escaped to Rimini, which
still remained faithful. She defended the town, in
1466, with such determination that the besiegers, to
frighten her into a surrender, threatened to put her
children to death.
Caterina was at last restored to sovereign power,
and married John de' Medici, a man of noble family,
though not very distinguished for genius or bravery.
In 1500 she defended Forli against the talented
Caesar Borgia ; being compelled to surrender, she
was imprisoned in the castle of San Angelo, at
Rome. Soon, however, she was restored to liberty ;
but her dominions were never given back to her.
She died shortly after her release.
II— 2
VIII.
Maria d'Estrada, and other Spanish Women serving under
Cortez — Catalina de Erauso, the Monja Alferez (Nun-Lieu-
tenant)— Dona Maria Pacheco (Confederacy of the Holy Junta)
— Eleonora of Toledo, Grand-Duchess of Tuscany — Turks in
Hungary — Courage of a Jewess at Buda — Bravery of the
Women of Temesvar, Erlau, Valpon, Agria, and Szigeth in
Hungary and of Famagosta in Cyprus — Louise Labe — Mary
of Hungary — Granu Weal — The Reformation — Kenan
Simonz Hasselaar — Women of Alkmaar — Mary, Queen of
Scots — Magdalaine de Saint-Nectaire — Constance de Cezelli —
Christine de Lalaing, Princess d'Espinoy — Queen Elizabeth —
English and Scottish Border Heroines — Barbara of Ernecourt
(Thirty Years' War) — Christina of Sweden.
ijHE discovery of America opened up a new
field of enterprise for those brave, reck-
less, ne'er-do-weel soldiers of fortune
by whom the Old World was over-
run. Adventurers sailed from various ports of
Europe, under the command of audacious leaders,
Female Warriors. 165
such as Balboa and Pizarro, whose daring spirit
and enterprising disposition gave them authority
over their companions. Numbers of women, imbib-
ing the spirit of the times, accompanied those bands
of adventurers — sometimes disguised in male attire,
but more frequently in the garments of their own
sex.
When Cortez sailed from Cuba, in 1518, on that
voyage which terminated in the conquest of Mexico,
he was followed by six hundred soldiers, many of
whom were accompanied by their wives. These
Castilian dames, preferring to endure the hardships of
a campaign than be separated from their husbands,
and probably feeling curious to see for themselves
those marvels of the New World about which all
Europe was talking, in no way disgraced the name
of Spaniard by any feminine timidity. In the camp
before Mexico, which Cortez was besieging, 1521,
it was their fortitude which kept up the spirit of the
soldiers, who, repulsed in several assaults on the
city, and suffering from famine, had become gloomy
and despondent. Several examples have been pre-
served of the bravery displayed by these Spanish
wives. One of them would frequently mount guard
to relieve her tired husband ; another, seeing the
Spaniards repulsed in an attack, hastily donned a
soldier's escaupil, snatched up a sword and lance,
rallied the retreating Christians and led them once
more against the Mexicans.
1 66 Female Warriors.
Cortez had requested the women to remain behind,
at Tlascala, but they proudly answered him that " It
was the duty of Castilian wives not to abandon their
husbands in danger, but to share it with them — and
die with them if necessary."
The name of one of these female warriors was
Maria d'Estrada, who fought by the side of her
husband through every campaign, displaying the
same courage as her companions in arms.
Another Spanish-American heroine was Catalina
de Erauso, the " Monja Alferez,^' or Nun-Lieutenant.
Her life was the most romantic that could be
imagined. She has written her own history in pure
and classic Spanish, displaying as much literary
ability in its composition as, in her warlike career,
she had shown heroic valor, mixed with savage
cruelty.
She was born in 1592, daughter of a Spanish hidalgo
of St. Sebastian, Don Miguel de Erauso, an officer in
the royal army, and, after the fashion of those days,
was destined for the Church. So, at the early age
of four, she was sent to the Dominican convent, the
prioress of which was her aunt. Here she remained
till her fifteenth year ; but during all these years she
acquired so inveterate a dislike for the cloister that
she contrived to make her escape from the convent,
shortly before the day on which she was to take the
veil. She hid in a chestnut grove for three days.
Female Warriors. 16 j
cut her hair short, made her petticoats into male
attire, and then started on her travels.
She passed through various romantic adventures
in Spain, acting in the different capacities of page,
clerk, and servant. Thus disguised, she joined an
expedition to South America, where she became a
soldier. At different times she assumed one name
or another; but that under w^hich she was best
known, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant,
was Alonzo Dias. Under this alias she was the
victor in several skirmishes. So clear was her
judgment that her opinion was frequently asked by
the generals at their councils of war.
During the intervals of military duty, Catalina
gambled, drank, robbed, assassinated, cursed and
swore, and behaved altogether very like an Alsatian
bully. She chose for her associates the most
desperate and reprobate characters, and seemed to
take a fiendish delight in outdoing them. Some-
times she would pay attentions to a simple girl, and
when the wedding-day was fixed she would dis-
appear.
One night, in a gambling-house in Chili, she
quarrelled with, and stabbed a gentleman of great
importance in the city. The relatives made the
place so hot for Catalina, that she was compelled
to make her escape across the Andes, into another
province. Her lawlessness once brought her under the
1 68 Female Warriors.
hands of the hangman ; and a reprieve arrived just
as, with the noose round her neck, she was about to be
launched into eternity. She wandered over every
part of Spanish America, taking up, at random, the
profession of soldier, sailor, or even lawyer.
The discovery of her sex was brought about by
a curious accident. Her violent deeds having again
provoked the guardians of the law, she was com-
pelled to fly for refuge for sanctuary to a church at
Guamango, in Peru. The bishop, a pious man,
tried to convert the young criminal, animadverting
on the wicked life the latter had been leading, and
exhorting her to repentance. The stubborn heart
of Catalina, inured to every kind of reproach and
harsh language, was touched by the kindness with
which the bishop spoke. For a few moments she
maintained a dogged silence ; then, falling on her
knees and bursting into tears : —
" Father," she sobbed. " I am a woman ! "
She then told the astounded prelate her extra-
ordinary story. He pitied the unhappy young
woman, and by his influence she was pardoned and
permitted to return to Spain. She arrived at Cadiz
in 1624, whither her fame had preceded her.
During her journey through Spain and Italy the
streets were crowded by wondering spectators.
Pope Urban VIH. allowed her to retain her
masculine costume for the rest of her days. It is
Female Warriors. 169
not known in what year she died ; according to an old
manuscript preserved in a convent at Vera Cruz,
she devoted her latter years to trade, and assumed
the name of Antonio de Erauso. Her portrait was
taken at Seville by Pacheco, a Spanish painter.
During the early years of the Emperor Charles
V.'s reign, the nobles of Castile formed a confederacy
called the Holy Junta, and took up arms to recover
their traditional rights and privileges. John de
Padilla, a young noble, was at the head of this
insurrection ; but it was his wife. Dona Maria
Pacheco, who really conducted the confederacy.
She was highly gifted and extremely ambitious,
though, like most ambitious people, not at all
scrupulous as to the means employed, so long as the
event turned out according to her wishes.
The Junta soon began to languish for want of
money, so Doiia Maria persuaded the people to strip
the cathedral at Toledo of its plate and jewellery.
In 1521 Padilla was captured, and sentenced to
death. He wrote to his wife, telling her not to
grieve, but rather to consider his death as his
deliverance from a weary life. But his capture
proved fatal to the confederacy. Toledo, the head-
quarters of the rebels, was soon invested by the
king's troops. Doiia Maria used every means to
secure her position. She even wrote to the French
lyo Female Warriors.
general on the Spanish frontier, inviting him to
invade Navarre. By keeping the death of Padilla
fresh in the minds of the citizens, she incited them
to make a resolute defence. Sorties attended with
varied success were made, sometimes daily, from the
garrison.
At last the canons of the cathedral, whom she
had offended, worked on the minds of the ignorant,
credulous multitude, telling them that Maria's
influence over them was due entirely to witchcraft.
The loss of three hundred men in a desperate sortie
so humbled the citizens that they drove Maria into
the Alcazar, and opened the gates to Charles's
troops.
Maria defended herself four months longer in the
citadel. But at last, reduced to the utmost
extremities, she fled into Portugal, where many of
her relatives and friends resided, and there passed
the remainder of her days in great poverty.
Eleonora of Toledo, the first Grand-Duchess of
Tuscany, was a woman possessing great courage and
a powerful, ambitious intellect. In 1543 she married
Cosmo de'Medici, Duke of Florence. Eleonora took
an active part in the wars between her husband and
his hereditary enemies, the Strozzi; and in the
bloody and terrible battles fought during the struggle,
she never left him. Her courage aided greatly to
Female Warriors, 17 1
turn the fortune of war. One day, while riding out
with an escort of fifteen horsemen, she encountered
PhiHp Strozzi, commander of her husband's enemies,
reconnoitring the Florentine camp. Although he
had a guard of forty-five men, Eleonora, with her
accustomed bravery, attacked him, slew nearly all
his men, and took himself prisoner. Philip, knowing
that he could not expect quarter — which had never
been granted to prisoners on either side during the
war — committed suicide sooner than perish igno-
miniouslyon the scaffold. Eleonora was so shocked
that she prevailed on her husband to spare the lives
of his prisoners henceforth.
Eleonora also took a leading part in the war
between Charles V. and Francis I. Together with
her husband she was activly engaged in the storm-
ing of Sienna. She urged Cosmo to have himself
crowned king ; but he was unable to carry out her
project. Pope Pius V. at length changed his title
from Duke of Florence to Grand-Duke of Tuscany.
Eleonora's ambition being now satisfied, she gave
up the rest of her life to the encouragement of the
fine arts, national education, and founding charitable
institutions. The date of her death is unknown.
Under Solyman the Magnificent, the Turks con-
quered the greater part of Hungary ; whose king,
Louis II., was routed and slain in the disastrous
172 Female Warriors,
battle of Mohacz, 1526. And during the next
hundred and fifty years Hungary was the scene of
endless strife between the Crescent and the Cross.
For a long time victory inclined to the side of the
infidels. Women, as usual, took a prominent share
in the terrible scenes of bloodshed and carnage.
Wherever there was a town to be defended, women
immediately took up arms and aided the men to
keep off the common enemy.
This female courage showed itself on both sides
during these dreary wars. In 1529, during the
absence of Solyman, the Christians laid siege to
Buda, the capital of Hungary. One day, having
overpowered the Turks, they were rushing into the
town, when a Jewess tearing a strip of rag from
her gown, lighted it, and fired off an immense cannon
which the Ottomans in their flight had overlooked.
• It caused such havoc amongst the Hungarians that
they were paralyzed with terror — thus gaining time
for the Janizaries to rally ; and the result was the
final repulse of the Christians.
Tradition declares that Solyman, when he heard
of this courageous act, ordered the Jewess's gown to
be girt with a circle of pure silver.
In 1552 Solyman besieged Temesvar, which was
defended by the brave Lasonczy. The wife of the
latter led an army to the relief of her husband, and
attacked the Turkish camp, but she was soon
Female Warriors. 173
defeated. The revolt of the German garrison soon
after compelled Lasonc^y to surrender.
The town of Erlau, besieged at the same time,
withstood gallantly the repeated assaults of a
numerous army. Its fortifications were of the
poorest description, and the garrison small, but the
valour, the patriotism of the townspeople supplied
every deficiency. Old men and young girls, sword
and spear in hand, aided in the defence. One
woman was fighting beside her husband when he
fell, pierced by a Turkish bullet. Her mother, who
was also assisting to defend the wall, now wished
to remove the body, and suggested that they should
devote themselves to seeing it honourably interred.
But the young widow refused to leave the scene of
action.
" May God," she cried, " never suffer the earth to
cover my husband^s corse, till his death has been
amply avenged. This is the hour of battle, not a
time for funeral and for tears.:*'
She seized the shield and sword of her dead
husband, and rushing upon the Turks, refused to
leave the breach, till by the slaughter of three
infidels she had satisfied her thirst for revenge.
Then she raised the corpse of her lord, and bore it
to the principal church in the town, where she paid to
it the last honours with great splendour.
When the Turks were besieging Alba, several
174 Female Warriors.
women, whose husbands had been slain, volunteered
to defend the walls. The Turks were amazed at
the cool bravery with which these female warriors
defended the various posts assigned to them. For
several hours they held a bastion, the possession of
which was deemed highly important by both Turks
and Christians. Every Turk who endeavoured to
scale the bastion had his head struck with a scythe.
For more than three months, thanks to the valour
of the women, the town of Valpon set the Mussul-
man power at defiance, backed though the latter
was by all the appliances of war.
The same resistance met them at Agria, not far
from Valpon, where the wives and daughters of the
citizens carried oil, pitch, boiling water, molten lead,
etc., to pour on the heads of the Turks. One
woman was struck down by a cannon ball just as she
was about to hurl a big stone on the skulls of the
infidels. Her daughter, seeing her fall, was filled
with the thirst for revenge. Rushing to the breach,
she fought with the desperate bravery of a lioness
deprived of her cubs, slaying and wounding on all
sides. At last she was herself slain. One of the
citizens fighting on the ramparts observed his son-
in-law struck dead by a musket-ball. Turning to
his wife, he asked her to carry away the corpse and
render to it the last offices.
'* There is another duty more pressing," replied
Female Warriors. 175
she. " That of defending our religion and our
country comes before love. To them I will give
the last drop of my blood/*
During the siege of Szigeth, in 1566, which cost
the Turks twenty thousand men, orders were given
one day for a general assault. A Hungarian officer,
wishing to save his wife from falling into the hands
of the infidels, took the cruel resolution of putting
her to death. But his young wife, less attached to
her life than to her husband, declared that she would
accompany him to battle, there to receive death or
glory. Dressing herself in a suit of his clothes, she
armed herself and went with him to the field. No
one displayed greater courage than she did. With-
out once quitting her husband, she slew every Turk
who came within reach of her sword. She continued
to fight with the same ardour till the close of the
engagement, and wherever she was seen a Turkish
corpse remained to mark her presence. At last her
husband was slain, and she herself, severely wounded
by the Turkish arrows, lay on her husband's breast.
After receiving the last sacrament, she expired in
great agony.
During the siege of Famagosta, in Cyprus, by
Mustapha Pacha, in 1571, the noblest Cypriote
dames, undismayed by the iron fire of the Turkish
batteries, aided to defend the city. Not only did
176 Female Warriors,
they carry round food and ammunition to the soldiers,
but, during the assault, they rolled huge stones on
the heads of the Turks assembled in the ditch below
or climbing to the attack.
In the annals of French poetry few names stand
higher than that of Louise Labe, La Belle Cordiere.
She was born at Lyons in 1526 or 1527. Nature
was lavish in her gifts ; to personal beauty and an
exquisite voice, were added talents for literature and
music. Her education included music, languages,
riding, and military exercises. The last named
acquirement excited in the mind of Louise a wish to
enter the army. At the age of sixteen she served,
under the name of Captain Loys, in the campaign
of 1542, which ended in the siege of Perpignan.
Some say she followed her' father, others her lover
to the field ; but whatever was the cause of her
presence in camp, she earned great praises for her
courage. But the French were obliged to raise the
siege ; and Louise Labe, after sharing in the fetes
and tournaments held by the Dauphin, gave up the
military profession, henceforth devoting her time to
music and poetry.
She married Ennemond Perrin, a wealthy rope-
maker, and thus acquired the opportunity to follow
her literary inclinations. She possessed a valuable
library of books in Greek, Latin, Spanish, and
Female Warriars. I'j'j
Italian, which languages she knew perfectly. Her
spacious and tastefully laid-out gardens became the
resort of nobles, poets, savants, wits, artists,
musicians, and men of genius of every kind; and
at these re-unions the musical skill of La Belle
Cordiere showed to advantage. She excited at the
same time the admiration of the poets and the envy of
the ladies. The street in Lyons where she lived was
christened after her. She died in 1566, one year
after her husband, who had left her sole heir to his
large property.
Her chief works were an " Epistle to Clemence de
Bourges,^' the " Debat de la Folic et de FAmour," a
drama in prose, three elegies, and twenty-four
sonnets. The first edition of her writings appeared in
1555-
Mary of Hungary, wife of the unfortunate Louis
IL, who was slain in the battle of Mohacz, was
celebrated throughout continental Europe for her
military prowess and her love of field-sports. From
the latter she acquired the soubriquet of Diana,
while from her habit of mixing with the soldiers she
was styled (like the Empress Victoria) *' Mother of
the Camp.'^ She was the daughter of Philip L of
Spain, and handsome even for a Spanish princess,
majestic in her carriage, yet affable and charming in
her manners. Her brother, the Emperor Charles V.,
VOL. I. 12
178 Female Warriors.
had so high an opinion of her poHtical abilities that
he entrusted to her charge the government of the
Netherlands ; and her court soon became famous for
the magnificence of its tournaments and spectacles.
Mary commanded during several expeditions
against the troops of France ; and during the
various battles and skirmishes which ensued, she
would frequently march on foot, or ride with the
soldiers to encourage them by her presence. In
1553, when Charles V. was besieging Metz, which
was defended by the Duke of Guise, Mary caused a
diversion, by invading Picardy, to prevent Henry II.
from succouring the besieged. By this raid she
caused terrible havoc, destroying seven or eight
hundred villages, and burning Folembrai, a favourite
palace of Francis I.
Henry II., in retaliation, burned some of the most
populous towns in the Netherlands, together with
the royal palace of Bains, which was one of the
architectural wonders of the age. Mary vowed that
France should repent this deed. She kept her word ;
and more than once her conduct savoured of gross
cruelty. Henry directed his soldiers to try their
utmost to make Mary a prisoner ; for, said he, he
would like to try whether she would retain, in
captivity, her haughty, courageous spirit.
Mary resigned the government of the Netherlands
in 1555, and returned to Spain, where she died three
years afterwards.
Female Warriors. 179
Graine-ni-Mhaile, Granu Weal, or Grace O'Malley,
a famous Irish heroine who Hved during the latter
half of the sixteenth century, was daughter of Owen
O'Malley, a noted chief who commanded a small
navy. He used to make voyages from port to port,
partly for commerce, but more especially for piracy.
During childhood, Grace frequently accompanied her
father on his expeditions. After his death, her
brother being a minor, she took command of the
galleys, and made several voyages. Her chief
rendezvous was at Clare island, off the coast of
Mayo, where she kept her larger vessels moored.
Here, too, she had a fortress. Her smaller ships
she kept at Carrigahooly Castle, which was her
favourite residence, and chief stronghold.
Her piracies at length became so frequent and so
daring that a reward of five hundred pounds was
offered by the English Government for her apprehen-
sion. Troops were sent from Galway to Carrig-
ahooly ; but after a siege of more than a fortnight,
they were compelled to retire. The people of
Connaught relate numerous adventures and extra-
ordinary actions performed on the high seas by
Granu Weal.
Her first husband was O'Flaherty, chief of West
Connaught. After his death she married Sir Richard
Burke, and became reconciled to the English. After
her second marriage, she frequently assisted the
12 — 2
i8o Female Warriors.
English with her troops in Connaught ; for which
Queen Elizabeth wrote her an autograph letter,
thanking her and inviting her on a visit to the
court, at London. Graine-ni-Mhaile, with several
galleys, sailed to London in 1575. She was
received with great distinction by the queen, who
offered to make her visitor a countess ; but Grace
declined this honour, and answered with much spirit,
that both of them being princesses, they were equal
in rank, and could not therefore confer titles or
honours upon each other. But, she said, her
majesty might confer any rank she pleased on young
Burke (son of Grace), who was born on board ship
during the voyage to England ; named from this
circumstance, Tioboid-na-Lung, signifying Theobald
of the Ships. Queen Elizabeth, it is said, knighted
him under the title of Sir Theobald Burke ; he was
afterwards created Viscount of Mayo by Charles L
On her voyage home Granu Weal landed at Howth
for provisions. She was greatly surprised to find the
gates of the castle closed, because the family were
at dinner. Indignant at this dereliction from Irish
hospitality, Granu seized a little boy whom she
found playing with an attendant near the sea- shore.
Finding that he was the infant heir of Howth, she
brought him to Connaught : refusing to restore him
till Lord Howth had entered into an agreement that
his gates should never again be closed during dinner.
Female Warriors. l8i
The abduction of the infant heir of St. Lawrence
forms the subject of a painting at Howth Castle.
Grace O'Malley was buried in a monastery which
she had herself endowed, on Clare island. There
are yet some remains of her monument to be seen
there. Her name has always been familiar in the
mouths of Irish peasants ; and she is still sung as a
heroine in various ballads, English and Irish.
During the fiercely contested wars brought about
by the efforts of the Roman Catholic princes to stop
the Reformation, women, as usual, took their share
of the dangers and privations endured by all for the
sake of their faith. They displayed as much courage
and fortitude as the men, whether, as the wives and
daughters of citizens they aided to defend their
homes, or whether as princesses they boldly headed
their troops in defence of their religion and their
dominions.
Kenan Simonsz Hasselaar was heroine of the
famous siege of Haarlem. The revolting cruelty of
Spain in her first efforts to stamp out the rebellion
in the Netherlands, only stimulated the Dutch to
bolder and more desperate efforts for freedom.
Haarlem was one of the most important cities ; and
the Spaniards, resolved to capture it at any price,
despatched twelve thousand men, commanded by
Frederic of Toledo, to besiege the city in December,
1 82 Female Warriors.
1572. On the I2th, during a severe frost, the place
was invested. Bravely did the inhabitants, both
soldiers and citizens, resist the Spaniards. Women
cheerfully shared in all the toils and dangers, the
manifold privations of the defence.
Kenan Simonsz Hasselaar, a widow about fifty
years old, of a noble family, raised a troop of three
hundred women for the defence of the walls. At the
head of her corps she was constantly seen pressing
forward to attack the Spaniards, or aiding in the
erection of new defences. Even the besiegers, who
were repulsed with great slaughter in several assaults,
could not help admiring the courage of this Amazon
band.
Holland still holds the name of Kenan Hasselaar
very dear. One of the ships launched from the
government dock-yards every year receives her name.
A huge painting suspended in the hall of the Haarlem
Stadthuis transmits her glorious deeds to posterity ;
and her portrait hangs in the Treasure Chamber of
the Municipality, amongst the commanders of St.
John, the relics of the Spanish wars, the town
insignia, and the other precious nick-nacks and
antiquities collected together, accumulated by
generations of thrifty and patriotic burghers.
The women of Alkmaar (which was besieged by
Don Frederic immediately after the fall of Haarlem)
displayed the same courage. During the general
Female Warriors. 183
assault made by the Spaniards on the i8th Septem-
ber, 1573, the women aided the soldiers by hurling
down fragments of stones and red-hot iron, and pour-
ing boiling oil, molten pitch, rosin, and lead on the
besiegers, of whom a terrible carnage was made.
Mary Queen of Scots, the unfortunate rival of
Elizabeth, was a high-spirited, courageous woman,
possessing great talents for ruling; and had she
lived before the Reformation, she might possibly
have been more successful than her ancestors, most of
whom came to an untimely end. But the bitter hosti-
lity of John Knox was too powerful for the queen,
thoughfor some years she contrived to keep herthrone.
In 1565, shortly before her ill-starred marriage with
Darnley, the Congregational citizens of Edinburgh,
stirred up to rebellion by the secret machinations of
the queen's ** base brother, Moray," turned out in
hostile array, and encamped at St. Leonard's Crags.
Mary, undismayed by the fierce looks and big words
of these staunch Protestants, rode to meet them at
the head of a mere handful of troops. The rebel
leaders fled, and the rest, under promise of pardon,
returned to their homes.
In July of the same year the queen wedded
Darnley. This was the signal for an open insurrec-
tion on the part of the Scottish nobles. Again Queen
Mary showed herself a worthy descendant of the
184 ' Female Warriors.
Stuarts. " She acted in this emergency," remarks
Miss Strickland, " with energy and spirit indicative
of the confidence inspired by her popularity, and
showed herself no whit behind the most distinguished
of her predecessors in courage and ability." At the
head of five thousand men she left Edinburgh, August
26th, together with her husband, the lords of the
council, and her ladies-in-waiting. She was attired
in a scarlet and gold-embroidered riding-habit, which,
it was said, covered a light suit of armour, while her
hood and veil were understood to conceal a steel
casque. Pistols hung at her saddle-bow. Darnley,
with a vanity inherent in his nature, wore a gorgeous
suit of gilded armour.
On the 29th the queen reached Glasgow ; and
next day the rebels retreated from Paisley towards
Hamilton. The queen set out in pursuit. The
confederate lords, disappointed in their expectations
of a general Protestant rising, were obliged to retreat
from place to place before the queen and her army.
The bravery and endurance of Mary gained the love
and respect of many amongst her subjects.
Mary returned to Edinburgh for a short time ; and
on the 8th of October she marched again, this time
at the head of eighteen thousand men, to renew the
war. The rebel lords, terrified at the approach of
their royal mistress, fled across the English border,
and took refuge in Carlisle.
Female Warriors. 185
Queen Mary had no further opportunity of dis-
playing her courage till after the murder of Darnley,
in 1567, when the base conduct of Bothwell and
the consequent insurrection of nearly all the Scottish
nobles forced her once more to take the field in
person. When the opposing armies met, June 14th,
at Carberry Hill, she rode with her followers to the
field, though neither she nor they had broken their
fast that morning.
After this followed the captivity of Mary in Loch-
Leven Castle. In 1568 she made her escape, and
assisted by a few friends, made a last effort to recover
her throne. The Earl of Murray (regent during the
minority of king James), with a large army inter-
cepted the queen's march at Langside, two miles
from Glasgow.
It is not quite clear whether Mary took an active
part in the battle of Langside, which for ever crushed
her hopes. Brantome declares " the Queen-mother
of France assured him that Mary mounted her good
hackney and rode into the battle like another Zeno-
bia, to encourage her troops to advance, and
would fain have led them to the charge in person.
But she found them all quarrelling among them-
selves, and insensible to her eloquence, and more
inclined to exchange blows with each other than to
attack the rebel host."
According to the popular tradition, however, it
1 86 Female Warriors.
was beneath the spreading boughs of a hawthorn,
which is still known as " the Queen's thorn/' half-
way up the green hill behind Castlemilk, that the
unfortunate sovereign stood and watched the battle,
surrrounded by her ladies and a few devoted
adherents. Legend also points out another " Queen's
thorn " on the hill behind the ruins of Cathcart
Castle. According to a local history. Lord Living-
stone, at the head of " the bairns of Falkirk/' rode
with the queen to the battle-field, and afterwards
aided her to escape ; and. this would seem to
corroborate what Brantome has said.
Amongst those heroines who distinguished them-
selves during the religious wars in France, was
Magdalaine de Saint-Nectaire, — also called Se'
nectaire, or Sennetaire. She was a staunch Protest-
ant, and after the death of her husband, Gui di Saint
Exuperi, she retired to her chateau at Miremont, in
Limousin, armed sixty of her retainers, and
commenced a series of raids against the Roman
Catholics. In 1575, during the reign of the weak
and frivolous Henry IIL, Montal, Lieutenant du Roi,
in Limousin, whose soldiers had often been defeated
by Magdalaine, resolved to besiege the heroine in her
chateau. With fifteen hundred foot and two
hundred horse he arrived before the gates. Mag-
dalaine made a sally, and cut to pieces a detach-
Female Warriors. 187
ment of fifty men ; but on her return she found that
the chateau had been captured. She gallopped to
Turene, a neighbouring town, to gather reinforce-
ments, returning thence with four companies of
mounted arquebusiers. Montal awaited her in a
defile of the mountains ; but he was vanquished and
mortally wounded. His soldiers, discouraged by the
fall of their leader, withdrew the same evening to a
neighbouring castle, where Montal died four day's
later.
The year of this heroine's death is not recorded.
Another heroine of these wars was Constance de
Cezelli, a loyal supporter of Henry IV. When
that monarch, after his accession to the throne, was
struggling for supremacy with the League, the
troops of the latter, in 1590, besieged the town of
Leucates, in Languedoc. It was defended by the
Huguenots, under the command of M. de Barri,
governor of the place. The latter was captured by
means of a pretended conference ; but he contrived
to write to his wife, Constance de Cezelli, bidding
her to take the command and defend the town so
long as there was any hope of success. Constance,
according to his commands, maintained order in
Leucates, and encouraged the soldiers by frequently
appearing on the walls with a pike in her hand.
When the Leaguers discovered Who it was that
Female Warriors.
commanded the garrison they thought to frighten
her into a surrender by threatening to put her
husband to death if she did not give up the town.
tShe possessed much private property, which she
offered as ransom for her husband ; but she declared
that she could never purchase his life by an act of
treason.
M. de Barri was put to the torture, for the
besiegers thought that he would command his wife
to open the gates. But he braved all their menaces,
and when they were compelled, soon after, to raise
the siege the governor of Leucates was strangled.
Although Constance was overwhelmed with grief
and horror, she would not allow the soldiers to avenge
the death of M. de Barri on some Roman Catholic
prisoners.
Henry IV. sent Constance de Cezelli a commission
appointing her governor of Leucates, with a reversion
in favour of her son. She held this office for twenty-
seven years, and proved herself thoroughly compe-
tent for the duties of governor.
On the 26th July, 1581, the United Netherlands
declared their independence, and invited the Duke
of Anjou to rule over them. But, although the
prince entered the country with five thousand horse
and twelve thousand foot, the military genius of
Alexander Farnese, the Spanish governor, together
Female Warriors. 189.
with the vacillating conduct of the Dutch themselves,
frustrated all his efforts, and he was compelled to
disband his forces and leave the country. The
greater number of his soldiers joined the standard of
the Prince d^Espinoy, governor of Tournai.
Alexander Farnese laid siege, on the ist of October,
to the important city of Tournai. In the absence of
the Prince d'Espinoy, the Princess, Christine de
Lalaing, took the command, and conducted the
defence in a manner worthy of her distinguished
relatives Count Horn and Admiral de Montmorency.
The Prince of Parma summoned Tournai to
surrender, but Christine gave him a defiant refusal,
and set so courageous an example to the soldiers
that they made a resolute defence. The princess
superintended all the defences in person, and directed
all the officers. She appeared daily on the walls;
and in one of the assaults was wounded in the arm,
though, despite this, she refused to retire till the
Spaniards had been repulsed.
After a siege of two months' duration, it became
impossible to hold the place any longer. The walls
were gradually undermined from without, and the-
fidelity of the garrison was tampered with by Father
Gery, a Dominican friar. The Protestants in the city,
not knowing what moment an insurrection would
break out amongst the Catholic inhabitants, insisted
upon surrendering the place. Christine finding herself
190 Female Warriors.
deserted by both Protestants and Catholics, obtained
honourable terms, and left the city with all the
honours of war, carrying all her personal property
with her. Farnese, moreover, accepted one hundred
thousand crowns in place of sacking the city.
As the princess passed through the gates she was
received with an outburst of applause from the
Spanish army, with whom she had acquired a high
reputation through her courage. Parma entered
the city on November 30th.
In September, 1863, a statue was raised to
Christine de Lalaing in the city, which, nearly three
centuries before, she had so nobly defended.
In 1588 a panic flew from one end of England to
the other on the threatened invasion of the Spanish
Armada. As it was supposed that the invaders
would attempt to sail up the Thames, several
thousand volunteers were assembled at Tilbury,
under command of the Earl of Leicester. " Vnto
the sayd army," says Richard Hackluyt, " came in
proper person, the Queen's most roiall Maiestie,
representing Tomyris, that Scythian princesse, or
rather diuine Pallas her selfe."
On the 8th of August, Queen Elizabeth, mounted
on a white charger, a marshal's haion grasped in her
hand, rode through the camp, where she was received
with enthusiastic acclamations by both volunteers
Female Warriors. 191
and regulars drawn up on a hill near Tilbury church.
Forbidding any of her retinue to follow her, she was
attended only by the Earls of Ormonde and Leices-
ter, the latter bearing before her the Sword of
State. She was also followed by a page, who had the
honour of carrying her " white-plumed regal helmet/'
The queen's costume was a mixture of the military
uniform and the fashionable ladies' attire of the
period. Beneath a corslet of polished steel descended
*' a farthingale of such monstrous amplitude, that,"
observes Miss Strickland, " it is wonderful how
her high-mettled war-horse submitted to carry a lady
encumbered with a gabardine of so strange a fashion."
Riding bare-headed through the ranks, she
addresed the warriors in an oration well calculated
to inspire them with enthusiasm. It concluded
amidst vociferous and long continued cheering.
After the dispersion of the Invincible Armada,
Elizabeth celebrated a triumph, in imitation of the
ancient Romans. She rode in a triumphal chariot
from her palace to St. Paul's cathedral, where the
" enseignes and colours of ye vanquished Spaniards,"
were displayed to the delighted gaze of the
citizens.
During the Border Wars between England and
Scotland women had frequent opportunities of local
distinction. Holinshed, speaking of a skirmish
192 Female Warriors.
which took place at Naworth, in 1570, between Lord
Hursden and Leonard Dacres, says the latter had in
his army " many desperate women, who there gave
the adventure of their lives, and fought right
stoutly."
The Duchy of Lorraine, or Lothringen, was, for
many centuries, a subject of contention between
France and Germany. It was for a long time a fief
of the German empire ; but from the middle of the
sixteenth century, the royal family of France became
connected with its rulers, and assumed thenceforth
a right to interfere in its internal arrangements.
During the Thirty Years' War the French drove
Duke Charles from his throne, on account of his
close connection with Austria.
It was during this war that Madame St.
Balmont, who has been styled a second Joan of
Arc, performed the gallant deeds for which she
became so famous. Barbara of Ernecourt, was
born in 1609, at the Castle of Neuville, situated
between Verdun and Bar. She belonged to a
good family in Lorraine, and from her earliest
childhood she trained herself in military exercises
and the use of arms. Her chief delight was hunt-
ing, and every kind of field sport, which the Abbe
Arnould remarks, " is a kind of war.'' One day
when she was engaging in her favourite pastime,
Female Warriors. 193
she met with the Count de St. Belmont, and,
being mutually charmed, they married shortly
after.
Barbara was scarcely more than a girl when she
married, and at this time her face was excessively
pretty, though it was afterwards spoiled by the
small pox — when, so far from being made unhappy
by the loss of her beauty, " she was as pleased,^'
says the Abbe Arnould, " to be marked with it as
other women are afflicted on a similar occasion,
and said that it would enable her to look more like
a man." Her figure, however, was small and
clumsily made ; but she was robust, and able to
bear a considerable amount of fatigue without
being overcome by it.
When the French invaded Lorraine, the Count
de St. Belmont, who had always occupied a high
place in the estimation of the duke, now actively
employed himself resisting the invaders, while
Barbara remained as custodian of his castle and
estates. Unfortunately, the duke's high opinion
of M. de St. Belmont's military talents led the
latter into a serious dilemma ; for, being given
the command of a fortress, he felt himself bound
in honour to defend it for several days against the
French. In those days there was, it would seem, a
rigid code of the military law — doubtless first intro-
duced through humane feelings — by which officers
VOL. I. 13
194 Female Warriors.
in charge of strongholds refusing to surrender, after
all hope of success was gone, were to be punished in
the most degrading manner. When this feeble
stronghold was taken, the French leaders seriously
debated the expediency of hanging their antagonist.
Meanwhile the countess, having been contempt-
uously treated by a cavalry officer who had taken
up his abode on one of her husband's estates, des-
patched a cartel, signed " Le Chevalier de St. Bel-
mont," purporting to be written by her husband's
brother. They crossed swords, and Barbara almost
immediately disarmed her opponent ; then, picking
up his sword and handing it to him with a gracious
smile, she said : —
** You thought, sir, I make no doubt, that you
were fighting with Le Chevalier de St. Belmont ; it
is, however Madame de St. Belmont of that name
who returns you your sword, and begs you in future
to pay more regard to the requests of ladies.^'
The officer, not caring to show his face in the
vicinity, disappeared immediately and was never
heard of again.
Barbara's reputation was considerably raised by
this duel ; several gentlemen in the neighbourhood
took refuge in the village and put themselves under
her orders. At their head she made frequent raids
into those parts of the country occupied by the
French. She was always victorious, and almost
Female Warriors. 195
invariably brought home some trophies in arms or
baggage, for, in addition to courage, she possessed
great prudence and foresight.
The Peace of WestphaHa, in 1648, put an end to
the Thirty Years' War, and settled, for a time, the
affairs of Lorraine. Barbara laid down the sword
and took up the pen, which she wielded quite as
skilfully. Her first work, " Les Jumeaux Martyrs,"
appeared in 1651 ; other works of equal merit
followed. After the death of her husband she gave
herself up entirely to religion, to which she had
always been devotedly attached, and retired into a
convent. She died before taking the veil. May 22nd,
1660, at the age of fifty-one.
Although there was none of that unfeminine
coarseness which so often attaches to women who
pass the greater part of their lives in camps, Barbara
was always more at her ease in male society than
in that of her own sex, in which she felt embarrassed,
awkward. While her courage rendered her famous
throughout France and Germany, her charity and
the zeal which she displayed in the service of the
poor, rendered Madame de St. Belmont respected
and beloved by persons of every rank who dwelt in
the neighbourhood.
Christina of Sweden, daughter of Gustavus Adol-
13—2
196 Fetnale Warriors.
phus, the great Protestant hero of the Thirty Years'
War, inherited her father's native love for battles,
soldiers, even the smell of powder — all, in fact, that
pertains to a warrior's life. When she was about
two years old, her father took her to Calmar. The
governor did not know whether to give the customary
salute, afraid lest the child might be frightened by
the noise of the cannon. But Gustavus, whom he
consulted, replied, after a moment's hesitation : —
** Fire ! The girl is the daughter of a soldier, and
should be accustomed to it early."
The salute was therefore given. Christina clapped
her hands in delight.
" More ! More ! " she cried.
Pleased to see her evident predilection for the
taste of gunpowder, Gustavus Adolphus took his
daughter, soon after, to see a grand review. She
displayed even greater delight than before, and
Gustavus said, with a smile : —
** Very well ; you shall go, I am resolved, where
you shall have enough of this."
However, the early death of Gustavus Adolphus
hindered him from ever fulfilling this promise ; and
Christina, in her memoirs, regrets that she was not
permitted to learn the art of war under so illustrious
a master.
In 1647, at the age of twenty-nine, Christina
resigned the crown of Sweden. Passing through
Female Warriors,
197
Denmark and Germany, she proceeded to Belgium ;
and from Innspruck she went to Rome, which she
entered in state, attired in the costume of an
Amazon, and mounted on a war-horse.
IX.
THE AMAZONS IN SOUTH AMERICA.
OWN from the lofty Andes rolls the ma-
jestic Amazon, the largest river in the
world. From its sources to the Atlantic
the length is upwards of four thousand
miles. The banks are clothed with immense im-
penetrable forests of pine, cedar, red-wood, holly,
and cinnamon, affording a haunt to savage jaguars,
bears, leopards, tigers, wild boars, and a great
variety of venemous serpents ; and abounding, too,
in birds of the most beautiful plumage, and apes of
the most fantastic appearance. The waters swarm
with alligators, turtles, and almost every description
of fish. The shores and islands were formerly
peopled by numerous tribes of Indians, who have
Female Warriors. 199
either become extinct or retired further up the
mountains.
This majestic river was first explored in 1540-41,
by Francisco Orellana, a Spanish adventurer. Goii«
zalo Pizarro, brother of the Marquis of Pizarro,
started with Orellana from Zumaque, where they
met by accident. Together they descended the river
Coca in search of the wondrous El Dorado, which,
they had been told, was situated on the banks of a
great river into which the Coca flowed. During the
voyage they met with innumerable difficulties, and
suffered great hardships, especially from the want of
provisions. Several of their followers fell ill ; and
at last Pizarro constructed a brigantine, and embarked
his invalids on board, with two hundred thousand
livres in gold. He gave Orellana the command, and
remained behind with the rest of the adventurers ;
desiring Orellana, if successful, to return with
supplies. The latter, having entered at last a broad
river, whose shores were so distant from each other
that the waters seemed like those of an inland sea,
was certain he had almost reached El Dorado. On
the last day of December, 1540, he resolved not to turn
back; so, letting himself go with the current, he
abandoned his comrades under Pizarro to their fate.
At the mouth of the Nayho, Orellana was cautioned
by an old Indian chief to beware of the warlike
women. At the River Canuriz, between the mouth
2CX) Female Warriors.
of the Xingu and the Rio Negro, he encountered
a hostile tribe of Indians who opposed his landing.
Blows were exchanged ; several fell on each side.
Amongst the slain were several women, who had
fought quite as bravely as the men. Orellana was,
of course, the victor, and lived to carry home to
Europe an account (improved and embellished) of a
nation of Amazons who lived in South America, and
made war on the Indians.
Thenceforth a legend existed among the European
adventurers that a nation of female warriors dwelt
somewhere on the South American continent. The
river, hitherto called the Marafion, from its first
discoverer, was re-christened as the Amazons' river ;
and a large tract of country, with indefinable limits,
was set down in the maps under the somewhat
vague denomination of Amazonia.
Whether the natives first told the Europeans, or
whether the latter, with a view to increase the
wonders of the New World, invented the story and
told it to the natives, none can tell ; but even before
the voyage of Orellana, a tradition existed amongst
both natives and colonists that a nation of armed
women dwelt somewhere in America. Christopher
Columbus was told that the small island of Man-
danino, or Matinino (Montserrat), was inhabited
solely by female warriors.
Since the days of Orellana, there have been found
Female Warriors. 20i
plenty of travellers to confirm the story and add
their testimony to its truth. Hernando de Ribeira,
a follower of Cabega de Vega, the Conquistador of
Paraguay, asserted in 1545 that he had been told of
a nation of Amazons who lived on the western shore
of a large lake poetically termed *^ The Mansion of
the Sun," because that orb sinks into its waters
every evening. Father d'Acugna, in his *•' Discovery
of the River Amazon," declares that the various
tribes of Indians (amongst others, the Toupinambous)
dwelling around the Amazon, assured him again and
again that a republic of female warriors did exist in
that region ; several chiefs said they themselves had
been in the country of the Amazons on a visit. If,
says d'Acugna, the tradition is not true, it is certainly
the greatest of all the fables invented about the New
World. The Indians all believed that the Amazons
possessed vast treasures, sufficient to enrich many
kingdoms ; but no one dared to attack so warlike a
nation, to whom liberty was dearer than all the
riches in the world, and who knew how to send their
poisoned shafts straight to the heart. D'Acugna
fixes the residence of the Amazons on the banks of
the Canuriz, on lofty, almost inaccessible moun-
tains.
"When their neighbours visit them," he says,
** at a time appointed by themselves, they receive
them with bows and arrows in their hands, which
202 Female Warriors,
they exercise as if about to engage with enemies.
But knowing the object of their visitors, they lay
these weapons down, and welcome as their guests
the strangers, who remain with them a few days."
Andre Thevet, in his work ** Les Singularites de la
France Antarctique," Paris, 1558, makes the arrival
of the Amazons' guests the subject of a pictorial
illustration.
In 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh, wishing to make a
fortune in a hurry, undertook an expedition to
Guiana to seek for the golden city of Manoa. Most
probably he had read Thevet's work, an English
translation of which, by Bynneman, appeared in
1568 ; and he made the most careful enquiries after
the Amazons. But, like his predecessors, he was
doomed to disappointment.
" I made inqvirie,'' says he (in his book * The Dis-
courie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtifvl Empire of
Gviana') "amongst the most ancient and best
traueled of the Orenoqveponi, and I had knowledge
of all the riuers betweene Orenoqve and Aniazones,
and was uery desirovs to vnderstand the trvth of the
warlike women, bicavce of some it is beleeved, of
others not ; though I digresse from my pvrpose, yet
I will set doune what hath been deliuered to me for
troth of those women, and I spake with a Casiqve, or
lord of the people, that told me he had been in the
riuer, and beyond it also, the nations of those women
Female Warriors. 203
are on the sovth side of the riuer in a prouince of
Topago, and their chiefest strength and retraicts are
in the Islands scitvate on the sovth side of the
entrance, some sixty leagves within the movth of the
said riuer."
After entering into some details about the re-
ception of their guests in the month of April, when,
he says, " this one moneth they feast, davnce, and
drinke," he gives an account of the treatment of
children, which bears a suspicious resemblance to
the stories related of the ancient Amazons. He
further tells us the South American Amazons were
" said to be very crvell and bloodthirsty, especially
to svch as offer to inuade their territories."
In 1599 an abridged Latin translation of Raleigh's
work appeared at Nuremberg, at the cost of
Levinus Hulsius, geographer and collector. It
was illustrated by five coloured plates; the third
representing the joyful reception of the Amazons'
visitors, and their subsequent amusements ; the
fourth showing the treatment bestowed on prisoners
of war, who are seen hung up by the heels to trees,
where they serve as targets for the skill of their
captors, while their ultimate fate is hinted by the
figures of several Amazons preparing huge fires.
At the close of the seventeenth century. Father
Cyprian Baraza, a Jesuit missionary who went
among the South American Indians, gave an ac-
204 Female Warriors.
count of some Amazonian tribes who dwelt to the west
of the Paraquay, in 12° south latitude. M. de Con-
damine, who read a " Relation abregee d'un Voyage,"
etc., before the Academic des Sciences in 1745,
brought forward several testimonies to the existence
of the Amazons, whom he described as a society of
independent women, who were visited by the sterner
sex during the month of April only. Amongst other
authorities he mentions Don Francisco Diego
Portales, and Don Francisco Torralva, two Spanish
governors of Venezuela, who agreed in declaring that
a tribe of female warriors lived in the interior of
Guiana.
Thirty years later he was supported by a Por-
tuguese astronomer, Don Ribeiro de Sampeio
(" Diario da Viegem, no anno de 1774 et 1775")
who, however, spoke only by hearsay. Gili, the
missionary, was told by an Indian of the Quaqua
tribe that the Aikeambenanos ("women living
alone") dwelt on the banks of the Cuchinero, which
falls into the Orinoco opposite the island of Taran,
between Cayeara and Alta Gracia.
Count Pagan, in his " Relation de la Riviere des
Amazones," after testifying to the existence of the
nation, observes, in his florid style " Que TAsie ne
se vante plus de ses comptes veritables ou fabuleuses
des Amazones. L'Amerique ne lui cede point cet
avantage Et que le fleuve de Thermodoon ne
Female Warriors. 205
soit plus enfle de la gloire de ces conquerantes les
guerrieres/'
The Abbe Guyon, in his " Histoire des Amazons/'
Paris, 1740, expresses great faith in the story of these
South American dames ; and suggests that they were
colonised by the African Amazons, who might, he
suggests, have passed from the Old to the New World
by the now submerged isle of Atlantis. But his
testimony is of little value, as it evidently rests almost
entirely upon D'Acugna's report.
Even within the last twenty or thirty years, many
Indian tribes have expressed their belief in the
existence of the Amazons. Those who dwell on the
Essequibo, the Rupunni, and the lower Corentyn,
gravely assured Sir Robert Schomburgh, in 1844, that
separate tribes of women still lived on the upper
part of the Corentyn, in a country called Marawonne ;
and the narrators went so much into detail that
Sir Robert and his companions were almost inclined
to believe them. The natives further told them that
when they had journeyed some distance above the
great cataracts of the Corentyn, at a point where
two gigantic rocks (named by the Indians Pioomoco
and Surama) rose from either shore, they would be
in the country of the Woruisamocos, or Amazons.
Sir Robert, while travelling over the vast savan-
nahs, frequently came upon heaps of broken pottery,
which the Macusion Indians said were relics of the
2o6 Female Warriors.
Woruisamocos, who had formerly dwelt there. The
Caribs were especially persistent in declaring that
an Amazonian republic still existed in the centre of
Guiana " in those districts which no European had
ever visited. '^
The explorers of the river Amazon were formerly
stopped by the great cataracts on the Rio Trom-
betas, and in many instances they were murdered by
ferocious Indians who inhabit the upper branches.
Naturally those parts of the river which remained
unexplored were supposed to be the land of the
" bellicose dames/' In 1842-44 M. Montravel, com-
mander of the French war-ship ** La Boulonnaise,"
surveyed the Amazon from the sea as high up as the
Rio Negro, and heard the same tale in the region of
the Rio Trombetas. Thus, from the west as well
as from the north, Europeans heard of a nation
of Amazons dwelling in the central districts of
Guiana.
Humboldt believed to a certain extent in the
tradition. His idea was that women, in various
parts of South America, have now and then
wearied of the degrading condition in which they
are held, and occasionally united themselves into
bands, as fugitive negroes sometimes do, and that
the necessity of preserving their independence has
made them warriors.
Southey, in his " History of Brazil," makes a very
Female Warriors. 207
trite observation concerning the female warriors of
the New World, " Had we never," says he, " heard
of the Amazons of antiquity, I should, without
hesitation, believe in those of America. Their ex-
istence is not the less likely for this reason, and yet
it must be admitted that the probable truth is made
to appear suspicious by its resemblance to a known
fable."
^V#^W
X.
Lady Ofifaley (Irish Rebellion, 1641) — Lady Arundell — Lady
Bankes — Countess of Derby (Civil Wars in England) — Helena
Zrinyi, Wife of Tekeli — Incident at tl?e Coronation of William
and Mary — Mademoiselle de la Charce.
|HERE are three sorts of things in the
world," says the Abbe Brotier, *^that
know no kind of restraint, and are
governed by passion and brutality —
family quarrels, religious disputes, and civil wars."
The truth of these words is undeniable, more especi-
ally as the last is very frequently brought about by
its forerunners. The war between Charles I. and the
Parliament was prosecuted on both sides with so
much bitterness, that, in certain instances, the con-
duct of the officers and generals savoured more of
private feud than public zeal.
Female Warriors. 209
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was one of many un-
fortunate occurrences which precipitated the revolu-
tion at home, for not only did the Republican party
take advantage of the King's difficulties to increase
its own power, but the Irish rebels envenomed
the bitterness between King and Commons by de-
claring that they were empowered, by Royal Com-
mission, to defend his Majesty's prerogatives against
a Puritanical, levelling Government.
The Irish rebels stormed many a castle belonging
to English nobles or gentry. Amongst others, they
beleaguered, in April, 1642, the Castle of Geashill,
in King's County, the residence of Lettice Digby,
Baroness of Offaley. This lady, though upwards
of sixty years old, and a widow, retained all the fire
and energy of youth. She closed the gates, and
made a most resolute defence, refusing to hear any
proposal for surrender, for the castle, being defended
on all sides by bogs and woods, was very difficult of
access. She was at last relieved by the approach of
Viscount Lisle and Sir Charles Coote with one
hundred and twenty foot and three hundred horse.
The castle having been provisioned and supplied
with ammunition, Lady Offaley chose to remain
there for a time ; but being again menaced by the
rebels, she was relieved by Sir Richard Grenville, in
October of the same year, when she retired to her
VOL. .1. 14
210 Female Warriors.
mansion at Coles Hill, in Warwickshire, where she
died, December the ist, 1658.
On the 25th of August, 1642-, King Charles raised
his standard at Nottingham. He was at once joined
by thousands of Cavaliers ; amongst others, by the
Earl of Arundell, one of his most staunch adherents.
The latter made himself so troublesome to the
Parliament that they determined to seize Wardour
Castle, his mansion. In 1643, they sent orders to
Sir Edward Hungerford, commander-in-chief of their
forces in Wiltshire, to accomplish this design. He
arrived before the castle on the 2nd of May, and as
Lord Arundell was absent, the Puritans expected
an easy conquest. But Lady Blanche, who had
been left in charge, was well supplied with pro-
visions and ammunition : and although the garrison
consisted of barely twenty-five fighting men, she
resolved to make a brave defence.
Sir Edward Hungerford, on the arrival of Colonel
Strode with reinforcements, summoned the castle to
surrender, pretending that it contained men and
arms, money, and plate which he was ordered, by a
warrant from Parliament, to seize. Lady Arundell
declined to comply with his demands. Sir Edward
immediately ordered up his heavy guns, and com-
menced a bombardment which lasted from Wednes-
day the 3rd to the following Monday. The besiegers,
Female Warriors. 2 1 1
moreover, ran two mines under the walls, and so
terrific was the explosion that the fortress was
shaken to its foundations.
During the siege, Sir Edward offered again and
again to grant quarter lo the ladies and children if
the castle would surrender ; but Lady Arundell and
the other ladies rejected the proposal with disdain.
The latter, too, together with the women-servants,
aided in the defence in various ways ; they loaded
the muskets, and carried round refreshments to their
gallant defenders.
According as the garrison, exhausted by the con-
tinued struggle, relaxed in its efforts, the Parlia-
mentary soldiers redoubled their attacks. They
applied petards to the garden-door, they flung balls
of wild-fire through the dismantled windows, causing
much damage to the apartments in the castle,
destroying valuable pictures, rich carvings, statuettes,
costly vases, chairs and couches, mirrors, and
various works of almost priceless worth.
After the siege had lasted nine days. Lady
Arundell, finding the castle was no longer tenable,
demanded a parley. Articles of surrender were
drawn up, by which it was stipulated, firstly, that
the garrison and all the inmates of the castle should
be granted quarter ; secondly, that the ladies and
servants should have all their wearing apparel, and
that sixty serving-men, chosen by the ladies them-
14 — 2
212 Female Warriors,
selves, should be permitted to attend them wherever
they might please to retire ; thirdly, that the furni-
ture of the castle was to be saved from plunder or
destruction.
The Puritans violated, without scruple, the treaty,
destroyed or mutilated everything of value in the
castle, and left with the inmates nothing but the
clothes they wore. Lady Arundell, with the women
and children, was carried prisoner to Shaftesbury.
Thither, too, five van-loads of costly furniture were
borne in triumph as the spoils of the vanquished.
The loss to Lord Arundell by the devastation and
plunder of Wardour Castle was estimated at one
hundred thousand pounds.
The Parliament, thinking their prisoners were
insecure at Shaftesbury, wished to remove them to
Bath. But the town was infected with small-pox
and plague ; and Lady Arundell refused so stubbornly
to consent, that her captors left her where she was,
but took her children to Dorchester.
Lady Arundell survived the siege only five years ;
and at her death, she was buried, with her husband,
in the chapel of Wardour Castle.
In point of heroic valour, Lady Arundell was out-
done by Lady Mary Bankes, wife of Sir John
Bankes, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
In August, 1643, Parliament despatched Sir William
Female Warriors. 213
Earle with a strong force to reduce Corfe Castle, the
family residence of Sir John, in the Isle of Purbeck.
Thinking to gain possession by stratagem, Sir
William sent a party of forty sailors to demand four
field-pieces which were in the castle. Lady Bankes,
suspecting their real object, went to the gate, and
requested the sailors to show their warrant. They
produced one, signed by several Parliamentary Com-
missioners. Thereupon Lady Bankes retired into the
castle ; and although there were only five men within
the walls, they mounted the field-pieces with the
assistance of the female servants, and having loaded
one of them, fired it off, and drove the sailors away.
Sir William Earle now tried to starve the castle
into a surrender. Lady Bankes affected a wish to
treat for the surrender of the guns ; but her real
object was, that the besiegers, relaxing in their
careful blockade, would give greater facilities for
introducing fresh supplies to the garrison. The
event justified her hopes. She also obtained the
help of Captain Lawrence, commanding a company
of Royalists.
The Puritans, about six hundred in number,
assaulted the castle, and endeavoured to carry it by
a coup de main. But the brave little garrison, sally-
ing forth, drove away the besiegers and brought
back nine oxen. Again the besiegers tried to
take the castle by storm. Dividing their forces,
214 Female Warriors.
one party attacked the middle ward, which was
defended by Captain Lawrence and his company,
while the other division assaulted the upper ward,
held by Lady Bankes with her daughters, her female
servants, and five soldiers, who hurled down huge
stones and red-hot coals on the heads of the storm-
ing party. At last, after losing one hundred men in
the assault, the Parliamentary forces retreated from
before Corfe Castle. The blockade had lasted,
altogether, six weeks.
Lady Bankes lived to see the Restoration, and
died in April, 1661. She was interred in the south
aisle of Rislipp church. The following inscription
was placed upon her monument by her eldest son : —
" To the memory of
"The Lady Mary Bankes, the only daughter of
Rafe Hawtrey, of Rislipp, in the County of Middle-
sex, Esquire., the wife and widow of the Honourable
Sir John Bankes, Knight, late Lord Chief Justice of
his late Majesty's Court of Common Pleas, and of
the Privy Council to his late Majesty King Charles
the First, of blessed memory ; who, having had the
honour to have borne, with a constancy and courage
above her sex, a noble proportion of the late calamity,
and the happiness to have outlived them so far as to
have seen the restitution of the government, with
great peace of mind laid down her most desired life
the 19th day of April, 1661. Sir Ralphe Bankes,
Female Warriors. 215
her son and heir, hath dedicated this. She left four
sonnes — first, Sir Ralphe ; second, Jerome ; third,
Charles ; fourth, William (since dead, without issue) ;
and six daughters."
The Earl of Derby was one of the most prominent
Cavalier leaders. In 1643, while awaiting a siege at
Lathom House, Lancashire, his family mansion, the
earl received intelligence that Parliament had des-
patched troops to annex his miniature kingdom, the
Isle of Man. Wishing to preserve the island as a final
retreat for his royal master, in case of misfortune
overtaking him, he left Lathom House in charge of
Charlotte, his countess, and set oif to the Isle of Man.
On the 27th of May, 1643, Mr. Holland, governor
of Manchester, despatched a messenger to Lathom,
commanding Lady Derby either to subscribe to the
propositions of Parliament or surrender the mansion.
She refused compliance with either alternative ; and
for nearly a year contrived, though closely blockaded,
to keep the enemy from coming to open hostilities.
At last, on the 24th of February, 1644, Parliament
despatched three colonels to Lathom House. Before
their arrival, the countess hastened to lay in pro-
visions and ammunition, and to arm a sufficient
number of retainers to serve as a garrison.
The countess determined not to surrender on any
terms, and rejected every proposal. " Though a
2i6 Female Warriors.
woman/^ said she, " and a strangjer divorced from
her friends and robbed of her estates, she was ready
to receive their utmost violence, trusting in God for
protection and deliverance.'^
Hostilities having commenced, the Parliamentary
army pushed the siege with great vigour. The
countess conducted the defence in person ; but,
though she took the office of commander, she was
not unmindful of the spiritual welfare of her people.
She was present four times a day at public prayer,
attended by her little daughters, Catherine and Mary.
A few days after the opening of the siege, Sir
Thomas Fairfax, the Parliamentary general, received
a letter from the Earl of Derby, in which the latter,
dreading the extremes to which his wife and children
might be reduced, requested for them a free pass
through the camp of the besiegers. When this was
communicated to the countess, she thanked Sir
Thomas for his courtesy in forwarding the missive ;
but replied that " she would willingly submit to her
lord's commands, and therefore willed the general to
treat with her ; but till she was assured that such
was his lordship's pleasure, she would neither yield
up the house nor desert it herself, but wait for the
event according to the will of God."
She forwarded a similar message to her husband
at Chester.
On the 25th of April, Colonel Rigby despatched a
Female Warriors. 217
peremptory message, demanding the surrender of
Lathom House immediately. The countess refused :
and the siege was prosecuted with renewed vigour ;
while the garrison, animated by the presence of
Lady Derby, continued to defend the house with
unabated courage. At last, on the 23rd of May,
they learnt, to their inexpressible relief, that Prince
Rupert and the Earl of Derby were in Cheshire,
marching to their aid.
When the Puritans heard of the approach of
Prince Rupert, they retreated to Bolton. On the
2gth, Prince Rupert " not only relieved, but revenged
the most noble lady, his cousin," leaving one thousand
five hundred of the besiegers dead on the field, and
taking seven hundred prisoners. The next day he
presented the countess with twenty-two of those
standards which, three days previously, had been
proudly waving before Lathom House.
The countess and her children accompanied the
earl to the Isle of Man, leaving the mansion in
charge of Colonel Rawstone. The latter defended
it till the following December, when the decline of
the Royal cause obliged him to open negotiations
with Fairfax. Before they were brought to a satis-
factory conclusion, the house was treacherously
surrendered by an Irish soldier.
The earl and countess, in the midst of their
devoted adherents in the Isle of Man, defied the
2 1 8 Female Warriors,
threats of Parliament. The earl was one of the
first to join the standard of Charles II. in 1651.
Captured on the borders of Cheshire, he was carried
to his own town of Bolton-le-Moors, where he was
beheaded, October 15th. Misfortune never comes un-
accompanied. The bereaved countess was betrayed,
with her children, by a false friend, and thrown into
prison. She regained her liberty at the Restoration ;
and for the rest of her life dwelt, with her remain-
ing children, at Knowsley, near Lathom, where she
died in 1663.
. Although the Turks were expelled from Hungary
in the sixteenth century, they by no means gave up
their ambitious designs on that country. Taking
advantage of the cruelty and oppression exercised
by Austria towards the Hungarians, they secretly
stirred up the nobles to revolt against their harsh
masters. In 1678, an able leader was found in
Emeric Tekeli, or Tokolyi, who, weary of vainly
soliciting the Emperor Leopold to restore his pa-
ternal estates, resolved to take them for himself,
together with the crown of Hungary. Setting up
his standard in Transylvania, he was soon joined by
thousands of malcontents. Day by day the revolt
gathered strength ; and had not the Emperor re-
sorted to the arts of cunning and bribery, it is
probable the rebellion would have terminated in a
revolution.
Female Warriors. 2ig
Tekeli was husband of Helena, widow of Francis
Ragotsky (who died in 1667), and daughter of Peter,
Count Zrinyi, Ban of Croatia, who, with others, lost
his head in 1671 for conspiring against Leopold.
Helena was as brave as she was beautiful. By her
first husband she had two sons, of whom the eldest,
Francis, afterwards took a conspicuous part in the
affairs of Hungary.
Tekeli commenced the war in 1678, and in 1682
he entered Buda in triumph, where he was inaugu-
rated Prince of Upper Hungary by the nobles and
the Turkish Bashaw. In the following year, the
Turks, following up these successes, advanced to
Vienna, which would have fallen, but for John
Sobiesky and his Poles. Leopold took care to
foment the growing jealousies between Tekeli and
the Turks ; and on the failure of the Hungarian
leader in an attack on Cassau, the Bashaw of Great
Waradin sent the hero in chains to Constantinople.
He was released the following year ; but during his
imprisonment the Turks were driven from Hungary
and the rebellion crushed. Helena continued to
defend the rock-fortress of Mongatz (or Munkacs)
with great courage for two years after the arrest of
her husband ; but in 1688 she was overpowered by
superior numbers, and reduced to capitulate and
throw herself with her sons under the protection of
the Emperor.
2 20 Female Warriors.
Helena was thrown into a convent, while her
children were educated under the auspices of Leopold.
After a time she was exchanged for an Austrian
general, and permitted to join her husband in
Turkey. The Sultan, Mustapha, conferred upon
Tekeli, Widdin, and some other districts, as a sort
of feudal sovereignty ; but he was afterwards
neglected by the Turkish government, and compelled
to start as a vintner in Constantinople, where he
died in 1705, in his fiftieth year. Helena, after
sharing the misfortunes and vicissitudes of his life,
died two years before him, in 1703.
A somewhat ludicrous affair happened at the
coronation of William and Mary, April 23rd-, 1689.
The champion of England, according to custom,
entered Westminster Hall, and throwing down his
mailed glove, gave the customary challenge to any
one who should dare to dispute their Majesty's claim
to the crown. An old woman came in on crutches
(which she left behind her), snatched up the gauntlet,
laid her own glove in its place, and made off as fast
as she could, before any one was able to stop her.
In the glove was found a challenge for the champion
to meet her the following day in Hyde Park. This
matter occasioned much merriment at the lower end
of the hall.
Next day an old woman, similarly dressed, was
Female Warriors. 221
seen waiting at the appointed ground, and was con-
jectured by those who saw her, to be a soldier in
disguise. The champion, however, wisely declining
any warlike contest with one of the fair sex, refused
to keep the appointment.
Madlle. de la Tour du Pin Gouvernail, better
known as Madlle. de la Charce, heroine of the war
between Louis Quatorze and the Duke of Savoy,
was the daughter of Pierre de la Tour du Pin,
Marquis de la Charce, lieutenant-general of the
king's armies. In 1692 the Piedmontese invaded
Dauphine. Madlle. de la Charce, arming the
villagers on her estates, placed herself at their head,
and harassed the enemy in the mountains ; her
mother, meanwhile, addressed the people in the
plains, exhorting them to remain faithful. The
sister of Madlle. de la Charce caused the cables of
the enemy's vessels to be cut. This brave family
contributed so greatly towards driving the Duke of
Savoy from Dauphine, that Louis XIV. granted
Philis a pension, the same as he would have given to
a brave general, and allowed her to place her sword
and armour in the treasury of St. Denis.
Madlle. de la Charce was fond of literature, and
composed some very pretty verses. An anonymous
work appeared in 1731, under the title of " Memoires
222 Female Warriors.
de Madlle. de la Charce." This little romance, says
Langlet-Dufresnoy, is well written, and contains
many historical anecdotes connected with the reign
of the Grand-Monarque.
END OF VOL. I.
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND CO.
lO LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINXOLN'S INK FIELDS.
TINSLEY BROTHERS'
NEW NOVELS.
A new Story of Modern Society, by the Author of " Jennie of ' The
Prince's,' "
GREAT GRENFELL GARDENS:
A Story of Modern Society.
By B. H. Buxton,
Author of " Nell— On and Off the Stage," " Jennie of ' The Prince's,' "
" Fetterless," " Won," etc. 3 Vols.
By the Author of "Denis Donne."
A LONDON SEASON.
By Annie Thomas (Mm. Pender Cudlip).
Author of " Called to Account," " Sir Victor's Choice," etc. 3 Vols.
By the Author of " An Innocent Sinner."
OUR BOHEMIA.
By Mabel Collins,
Author of " An Innocent Sinner," " In this World," etc. 3 Vols.
" You shall see great difference betwixt our Bohemia and your
Sicilia." — Winter's Tale.
MOLLY CAREW :
a New Novel.
By E. Owens Blackbuene,
Author of " A Woman Scorned," "Dean Swift's G-hos*," " Philosopher
Push," "The Quest of the Heu-," etc. 3 Vols.
By the author of " The Hazelhurst Mystery."
RUTH EVERINGHAM.
By Jessie Sale Lloyd,
• Author of " The Hazelhurst Mystery," etc. 3 Vols.
By the Author of " Woman and Her Master."
THE FREEMASON'S DAUGHTER:
A New Xovel.
By J. F. Smith,
Author of " Minnigrey," " Woman and Her Master," " Stanfield
Hall," etc. 3 Vols.
By the Author of " Estella.''
MARGARET DUNBAR.
By Annabel Geat,
Author of "Estella," etc. 3 Vols.
GRACE.
By Henry Tubnee.
2 Vols.
THE BACHELOR:
An Original Novel.
By Aethue Montagu Beookfield.
2 Vols.
" Equal in poWer to anything that many of our well-known and
best-established authors have written." — BelUs Weekly Messenger.
PAOLO GDLNINI:
A new Novel.
By Peeicles Tzikos.
3 Vols.
" Is an interesting and promising romance." — Atheneeum.
" We can recommend it cordially to those who like a novel which
treats of scenes and persons removed from the commonplace class of
incidents and personages which form the stock of most English stories
of the day." — Morning Post'.
TINSLEY BROTHERS, 8, CATHERINE ST., STRAND.
from Which it was borroS'^
AC NOV n 1 200
UC SOUTHERN REGIONaH
A 000 758 308
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